AirVenture 2024: Samson's Switchblade Gets a Whole New Look 

Well, let's wait and see. I was told that production was scheduled to begin in the ballpark of 2025 and 2026, but like I said, we shall see.

There’s been a flying car at Oshkosh just about every year i can remember. I don’t get it. It’s a bad car combined with a bad airplane. It’s like a lawnmower refrigerator combo.

Yep it’ll go bankrupt just like all the other ones and disappear and then new ones will show up that are horrible cars and also horrible airplanes. Now the auto Giro motorcycle looks like it actually would be fun. Looks like a decent autogiro and a decent motorcycle wouldn’t replace a car anything but it would be fun and actually would be something that someone would buy. I think it will be the only successful one of the group.

Ooh, could be an issue, but, correctable with AI flying on the last 100 ft Down?

In the Long-EZ, I'd fly mild cross wind landings wing low, and stronger cross wind landings half crab and half wing low. The Switchblade looks like it's crab only.

yeah save a lot of weight shedding a tire

So it's an even more dangerous car.

@@deSloleye Yet a safer motorbike...

@@deSloleye Still safer than a motorcycle.

But you still need both a motorcycle and a pilot's license to operate it. That's the real obstacles for me. And it still costs a fortune, too.

I agree, savings on hanger rent will probably go towards insurance. And what company will want to cover it? Complex maintenance with the folding wings and hybrid power system. The test flight program will probably reveal additional issues. Will probably be the most complex kit plane and complex manufacturing as well.

Be patient, please. Good things come to those who wait.

We saw the prototype ages ago.

Yep. I fell for the Moeller many years ago.

I don’t feel like it’s a scam late stage it’ll make ownership much more affordable when you factor in savings from hangaring etc. especially if you like in a VHCOL Area.

While I'm all for flying cars, I do fear that air taxis are more realistic and will come out on top in the end. They can carry more people and hence can be more efficient than any flying car owned by a single individual.

the driving can be hybrid electric even if the ducted fan is always on. No major loss to blow some air while the wheels push. At idle it will idle

But then you are wasting power because the duted fan motor is always running. Plus, police officers might stop you if you are running a propeller on public roads. No other cars on the road have propellers because they pose hazards to pedestrians and children who may be crossing the street, even if permanently shrouded. I haven't read any laws that explicitly prohibited the use of propellers on public streets and roadways, but that doesn't mean it's not implied.

Plus, it's important to remember that all cars have to be worthy of withstanding collisions in order to meet safety standards, especially here in the United States. If someone crashes into your Switchblade from the rear, they may dislocate the ducted propeller and get themselves killed when the rotor blades come slicing through their windshield. And even if they don't, all you need is one person to file a complaint regarding the safety hazards you pose to other drivers and pedestrians by running your propellers on the street, and you may be ticketed.

@@hydroworldoutlook5769 hehe, with small diameter, well ducted and modestly shrouded I'm not sure that's the part that will stand out in traffic. At idle and low speed driving it should be quite docile. Of course you could make a clutch for it but elegant if you didn't need to. There would be no real waste by it. Say it's a 100HP config at 5500rpm, for city stop and go it might be 5kW power and quite close to idle power. deep duct and a grate you can't even see it. aint no thang. just a big engine cooler :) I did a bit of calculation with GPT, ungeared at 5500rpm then 80cm diameter fan is appropriate. (31.5inches). Shouldn't look too hazardous. An Aptera with a ducted fan and small skinny wheels. People would buy it and it's not too hard to make.

Do you mean Paul Moller?

​@@SolarWebsiteYeah. Peter designed the failed Raptor but both had dreams that never went anywahere.

Failed? Peter Muller didn't fail. Just because his design hasn't been physically built yet doesn't mean he's failed. I think he still has a good chance. His thrusters are way better and much safer and much more efficient than any open propeller.

Paul Moller*

@@hydroworldoutlook5769 Not for vertical thrust though. There a larger propeller/impeller is beneficial to efficiency.

Yeah nothing safer than your dumbass neighbour in a flying sports cars trying to beat traffic.

While I'm all for flying cars, I do fear that air taxis are more realistic and will come out on top in the end. They can carry more people and hence can be more efficient than any flying car owned by a single individual.

@@hydroworldoutlook5769 Yes, I think flying cars, even if they work, will always be a niche product. A bit like amphibious cars.

At your own risk. I would say that it depends on where you choose to operate it. If you choose to drive the Switchblade within an area with low population or a small bedroom community where everyone knows one another, then doing so may work out just fine. But if you want to use the Swithblade in large metropolitan areas with higher crime rates, such as the cities of Los Angeles or New York, then you are taking a much bigger risk and I would not recommend it. Since the Switchblade is so ridiculously expensive, it's going to be very difficult to find and secure insurance policies capable of covering its costs in the event of a mechanical failure, a collision with another vehicle, or worse, theft. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket, because if something happens to it, you're not going to want to bear the expenses that follow. So my advice is, if you choose to use the Samson Sky Switchblade as a daily driver, then please be as careful as you possibly can.

All the safety of a motorcycle with the insurance cost of a Lamborghini.

Who is advising you? A human or computer program?

@@CompulsoryDemocracy None. I am a normal human being just like everyone else on RU-vid. However, I am 18 years old and do have autism, so it is entirely possible that people will mistaken me as a robot because I use grammatically correct language in a formal and respectful manner that may sometimes be seen as inappropriate. I greatly apologize for anything I said that may have offended you.