a dream that comes true in the United States

The company Samson Sky successfully completed the first test flight of its model, the Switchblade, in Washington State, in the west of the country.

Above the small Grand County Airport in Washington state, Switchblade rose 150 meters above sea level. The flight lasted six minutes and the test pilot, who had taken to the air on more than fifty aircraft, was alone at the controls. Switchblade isn’t a very big flying car. Especially when it is on the ground, the design evokes a sports car. It was important for Samson Sky, the manufacturer, that its vehicle had style.

On the road, Switchblade can reach 200 km/h and in the sky, more than 300! Its engine is hybrid with a range of 800 kilometers, but it is possible to refuel this flying car at any service station, assures Samson Sky. To take to the air, you only have to wait three minutes for the wings to unfold.

Sam Bousflied, the creator of Switchblade, is making a childhood dream come true, as he tells USAToday. By the end of kindergarten, he was showing his friends pictures of flying cars and telling them they would exist one day. This inventor and architect has spent the last 14 years working on his idea, helped by all his experience in aeronautics. Before that, he imagined a propeller plane capable of breaking the sound barrier, for example.

“When Switchblade flew away, time stood still,” he says, before realizing that the flight had only lasted six minutes. All the same, his dream came true. He imagines very concrete applications for his vehicle, such as driving to San Francisco for a business meeting and flying back. He already sees himself crossing the country and no longer having to worry about slowdowns due to roadworks. All you have to do is extend your wings and in the blue sky, there is no red light.

A car reserved for the most fortunate

Samson Sky acknowledges that it will take at least two additional years of work for full-scale production. Even if the carbon fiber and the techniques used reduce the manufacturing time of a door from 9 hours to 20 minutes.

But, for the general public, the wait is not likely to be the biggest problem. Switchblade should in fact cost 170,000 dollars, or around 155,000 euros. You will have to pay even more for the model allowing night flying. In addition, if a classic driving license is sufficient for the car, you obviously have to obtain a driver’s license, which still costs several thousand euros. Samson Sky, however, claims to have recorded 2,300 reservations from 57 different countries to test its device.