Capital Needed for Production Engineering, Parts Production, and Development 'til VCs Invest

Flying car manufacturer Samson Sky rang in the new year with a new round of crowdfunding through Wefunder, hoping to drum up additional cash to expand their production facilities as they make the jump to an entirely different material.

Samson Sky calls their shot before swinging, saying "if this were like any other kit aircraft, and we only needed to produce kits sufficient for maybe 300 per year, things would be different." Samson says they want to aim much higher out the gate, despite the fact they have yet to ship a single production Switchblade. "Our market is much larger than that, and the demand is much higher. So much higher," they add, "that we took over four years to work out how to not only make carbon parts faster, but also at nearly half the cost. This larger volume of sales also gives us amazing opportunities to make the switchblade even greater than anticipated."

The firm is making the jump to an all-new, next-gen material for their Switchblade aircraft: Thermoplastic Carbon Fiber, and all that it entails. The change requires some new developments in material science, or so Samson Sky says. They "worked out how to make the molds required for carbon fiber parts so that they would be cheaper and faster" than original designs. Thermoplastic CF isn't the easiest material to work with, though, so "the trick was to find the right material and process to make TCF parts without using the insanely expensive exotic metals that Boeing and others have resorted to for their molds." Thanks to advances in the industry, Samson says, such replacement materials are now finally being introduced for use.

Much work remains to be done. "The route of Production Engineering will certainly have highlights along the way, but there are thousands of decisions to make, enormous engineering to accomplish, and huge amounts of testing to be done," the company update continued.

To help feed the money-furnace that powers flying car development, Samson Sky is seeking crowdfunding. The additional funds will "serve as a springboard for an upcoming Venture Capital raise" according to their Wefunder pitch. The crowdfunds will be put towards the aforementioned carbon fiber production for 3 prototype aircraft, as well as "enable our team to complete the production engineering phase".

FMI: https://www.samsonsky.com/