Half plane, half car: Switchblade prototype is the flying vehicle of the future
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a…car? Welcome to the future, where flying automobiles have become a reality.
The Switchblade, an aircraft that doubles as a car, finally got its wheels off the ground on after a Federal Aviation Administration inspection in July 2022 determined it was safe to fly.
The project has been 15 years in the making, and Sam Bousfield, CEO of Samson Sky and inventor of the Switchblade, previously told KOIN 6 he was “stoked” to reach this milestone.
“It's funny, somebody asked me the other day how it felt. I stopped and I thought, ‘Wow, this is what it feels like to have this dream come true,” Bousfield said after the plane took to the skies.
Just like a pocket knife, the Switchblade’s wings slip smoothly into the body of the vehicle with the touch of a button, allowing it to seamlessly transition from sky to air. Its tail also unfurls or retracts, depending on if it’s being used to fly or drive.
The idea is that the vehicle could be parked in a garage, driven to an airport, flown to a new destination, and then driven anywhere on the ground after it lands. When a trip is over, the user can fly it home or fly it elsewhere.
According to Samson Sky, production is still about two years away. Until then, prepare for takeoff.