Samson Sky has given more information about progress of production engineering in its Switchblade Flying Car programme and its enhanced body design. “The new design improves performance and shortens the pathway to production by transferring much of what worked well in the test vehicle that flew, into the new streamlined design,” saidSam Bousfield, Samson Sky CEO and designer of the Switchblade, citing that the new design is simpler and much easier to build.
“Everything we do is with the mindset of how we are going to produce thousands of Switchblades, to meet the incredible demand we have,” added Bousfield. Samson officials stated that the company’s existing Reservations represent a potential sales value of over USD 450 million, with reservation holders from 57 countries, including all 50 U.S. states.
The company reports that it has validated many key parameters during flight testing and the new design, which shows refinements for production including folding side wing mirrors, nose radiator inlet, performance radiator outlet, headlights and taillights.
The website describes the Switchblade as a high-performance vehicle, both on the road and in the air. The test vehicle that flew in 2023 achieved its target of 125 mph in ground testing, and company officials stated they made these design changes to achieve their flying cruise speed target.
According to Bousfield, wind tunnel testing in May validated that the new design with the sleeker body and thruster propellers will allow Samson to meet their target of 160-mph flying cruise speed. “Since that time, the final styling that we accomplished, which is shown here, ended up reducing drag an additional 2%,” said Bousfield. He explained that this gives Samson the green light for production with the enhanced body design. Wind tunnel testing is standard practice in the aviation industry, and is widely used by Boeing, Airbus, Cessna and many others. The wind tunnel provides real-world data and can get within 3% of ‘actual’ performance.
Samson is building three production vehicles over the next 18 months to be used for intensive testing on every aspect of the vehicle, both flying and driving, prior to ramping up production.
The Switchblade Flying Sports Car is a street-legal, hybrid electric vehicle that is high-performance both on the road and in the air, says the company. The Switchblade seats two, side-by-side, with room for travel bags, and flies up to 500 miles on a single tank of premium auto gas.
For more information
www.SamsonSky.com