Worldwide Demand For Flying Sports Car Appears To Be Growing | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.22.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.16.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-04.17.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-04.18.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.19.24

Join Us At 0900ET, Friday, 4/10, for the LIVE Morning Brief.
Watch It LIVE at
www.airborne-live.net

Wed, Jul 18, 2018

Worldwide Demand For Flying Sports Car Appears To Be Growing

Switchblade Now Has Owners And Reservation Holders In 17 Countries And 40 U.S. States

Samson Sky, creators of the Switchblade, which the company bills as the world's first Flying Sports Car, now has pre-flight Owners and Reservation Holders hailing from 17 countries worldwide, and 40 states of the U.S. Recently they signed on their first Reservation Holder from the Netherlands. The numbers are growing by several each week, according to Samson Reservations Manager, Martha Hall Bousfield. "We are proud to have customers across the globe," stated Bousfield. The engineering and build team at Samson is working intently to finish assembly of their cutting-edge vehicle, with First Flight only months away. The tail assembly, one of the major milestones for the first flyable prototype, has just been completed.

"While the swinging wing is probably the heart of the Switchblade, the retractable tail is by far the most technically challenging aspect to the project, and one that we are proud to say was accomplished without a hitch," said Samson CEO and Switchblade designer, Sam Bousfield. The Switchblade will be on display at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh, WI next week.

While Samson has their strongest following in the U.S., they pride themselves on being relevant internationally. "I find that the flying car crosses borders as a universal dream for all of mankind," stated Bousfield. "Regardless of nationality or ethnicity. The world wants a flying car, and we are going to give it to them." Samson apparently anticipated world-wide sales, as the vehicle is designed to provide a choice of left-hand drive or right-hand drive. Dual controls are also available, allowing for flight training in the Switchblade.

Switchblade Reservation Holder, Herby Olschewski, is an Entrepreneur, pilot and self-proclaimed global village citizen who says he has been following every promise of a flying car over the past few decades, "I get the feeling that the Switchblade is the real deal. We plan to use several—for nature conservation in Africa and for fast, efficient transport in Europe.  It's a versatile and speedy vehicle, easy on the eye and practical. With an estimated cost of $120,000, the price tag is right, both on the road and in flight."

The Switchblade is classified as a motorcycle by the U.S. Department of Transportation, but Bousfield's team likes to call it a flying sports car because of its high performance. Its engine is a turbo-charged, lightweight 190 hp liquid-cooled V4 that is capable of 0-60 in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 125+ mph. In the air it will cruise at 140 knots, with a top speed of up to 165 knots and a range of 390 nautical miles. Using Road & Track's slalom testing parameters, the ground test vehicle out-performed everything in its wheelbase per Road & Track's historical data base.

One of the first people in the world to purchase a Switchblade was Jerry Clark, retired US Air Force Pilot and Aerospace Engineer. "It will be a truly modern vehicle for air and ground transportation. The era of the 'Jetsons' will have finally arrived and the world of aviation will undergo the same transition that the internet generated in the 1990s," Clark said.

(Images provided with Samson Sky news release)

FMI: www.SamsonSky.com

Advertisement

More News

Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative

Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]

Diamond's Electric DA40 Finds Fans at Dübendorf

A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.23.24): Line Up And Wait (LUAW)

Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]

NTSB Final Report: Extra Flugzeugbau GMBH EA300/L

Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: 'Never Give Up' - Advice From Two of FedEx's Female Captains

From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC