Car Spot: Switchblade

World’s first flying sports car

As I write this post I’m suffering from post-AirVenture depression. My first love is all things aviation being a pilot. For as long as I can remember I’ve attended the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture in Oshkosh. For one week at the end of July, the airport becomes the world’s busiest. If it flies, chances are, it’s been at Oshkosh. This year I found an item that ticks off my number one interest, flying, with my number two (and it’s a very close second), cars, and more importantly, fast ones. Enter the Switchblade.

Flying cars aren’t really new. The concept dates back to the late 1800s. American immigrant Gustave Whitehead was the first known designed aircraft with wheels and a gasoline-powered engine, including his no.21 model built in 1901. Fast forward to the Aerocar, designed and built by Molt Taylor and first flown in December 1949. There have been more recently but nothing has really taken off (pardon the pun).

Fast forward to 2023 and the Switchblade is a three-wheel, street-legal vehicle that you drive from your garage to a nearby local airport. Once there, the wings swing out and the tail extends in under 3 minutes. Pick a spot and fly to your destination at up to 200 mph and 13,000 feet. The top speed on the ground is 125+. My daughter Meg, also an airplane geek, spent over an hour talking to Martha Hall Bousfield, Reservations Manager, about it.

Initially developed by Sam Bousfield, who just happens to be Martha’s husband, and taking 14 years to get it to this point, the airplane has been approved for airworthiness by the FAA and the team is now performing flight tests. Switchblade, just like its knife counterpart, has a pair of wings and a tail that expand and collapse whenever the driver wants to turn the vehicle into an aircraft in under three minutes. It’s built full of tech like the ‘Skybrid Flying Car Drive System’ that allows the car to have a hybrid drive-and fly-system including regenerative braking, and reverse thrust which acts like a parachute for the flying car to keep the drivers safe and well on a wet runway. It comes with one available powerplant, Samson 3 Engine, 190 hp turbocharged 1 L with an estimated range of 500 miles. Here’s a cool thing. It uses 91 Octane Auto Gas which means you can just fuel up at any gas station. Image the look on the person in the shop when you pay up. You can see testing videos here.

The exclusive technology also hosts air-brake assist on descent to keep the drivers secured when they come in for a landing. Switchblade sports all-wheel disk brakes, a high-tech dashboard, and a climate-controlled cabin that adjusts accordingly to the weather outside the vehicle.

Starting from an “estimated price” of $170,000 for a VFR (Visual Flight Rules Only) Switchblade Kit, for pilots who just want to fly on nice sunny days or $195,000 for the IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) Switchblade Kit, for pilots who will fly all the time. All Kits now include the Samson Builder Assist Program, a $20,000 value. People will not be able to build their Switchblade in their shop or hangar. They must complete their portion (51%) at the Builder Assist Center and get trained on each step by their Builder Assist Team. the pricing will include everything but your paint job.

The Switchblade is not cheap but plenty are ponying up for it. They have recently reached the milestone of Reservation Position 1,500, with customers from 45 countries, including all 50 States making the Switchblade the most popular flying car in history.

So you won’t be able to just wander on down to the local dealer and have the key tossed to you. The Switchblade is sold as a kit aircraft and takes somewhere around 2,000 hours to build at home. If you’re not quite comfortable working on your own Samson has together a Build Assist Center where owners can come and make use of a “pro build team” and ideal working setup to get their aircraft finished in as little as a week. After that, it’s time for a paint job and an FAA inspection for experimental aircraft registration. Then you drive to your local DMV later and pick up a license plate for street use. I would love to see the look on the inspector’s face.

If I were to win a Powerball……I would buy one of these in a heartbeat! I’d drive the snot out of it. It would be a huge hit at any Cars and Coffee event! I’d also fly the snot out of it traveling with Meg, my wife Ann, or one of my buds to an airport to down a $100 hamburger. Hey baby, I’m only six numbers away.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this spot. Check out my others which I share each Friday. Have a great weekend.

Note: This update includes pricing and specs not available when I first published this post