
The Samson Switchblade flying car - lisper
https://www.samsonsky.com/
======
mdszy
Every flying car startup is a grift, I guarantee.

There are two possibilities when it comes to making a flying car viable

1\. Use fossil fuels even less efficiently because now not only does your
vehicle have to move forward, it now has to keep itself in the sky.

2\. Use electric motors which are already hard enough to sell in cars because
they don't give as much range, and then put them in an application where,
again, they have to keep something in the sky.

It's just not feasible, along with all the other requirements for training,
storage/landing area, etc...

~~~
yummypaint
The fundamental problem is always weight, which is why making a vehicle that
encloses the rider like a car can only be efficient if it's sufficiently large
to amortize the costs. I think the solution is flying motorcycles, which
already exist in the form of paramotors and gyrocopters. Then the problem is
that you're so light that stability and safety in wind is a problem. Despite
their availability, i havent heard of anyone commuting to work via paramotor.

~~~
brownbat
> i havent heard of anyone commuting to work via paramotor

Well, now you have:

[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/paramotor-
daredevil...](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/paramotor-daredevil-
beats-daily-grind-5592816)

Article proves your point though. 10 miles in 30 minutes, required licensing,
flight clearances, only works in very light wind, and requires total
concentration the whole time. And then he carries the equipment once he lands
in what must be a very heavy "briefcase."

Seems fun once or twice, but it swaps out the inconvenience of traffic with a
ton of other inconveniences.

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jfk13
The FAQ says "We are now only months away from first flight".

Hmm... back in 2017, they were "hoping to make the first flight by the end of
[that] year". [https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/samson-motorworks-
swi...](https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/samson-motorworks-switchblade-
flying-sports-car-2746174/)

So how long has that FAQ entry been in place, I wonder?

~~~
yellowapple
Well they didn't exactly say how many months away, now did they?

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jonshariat
The dream of the flying car isn't being able to drive and store a plane, its
being able to leave your garage and land at work or get groceries. This means
that vertical take off and landing, easy safe controls, and accessible
pricing. There are huge challenges in each of those areas to overcome. This
solution solves none of those.

Its still a really cool iteration of single engine planes. Easier/cheaper to
store, uses gas, drive after landing. Just not at all a flying car in soul.

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sumofi
Do I want people flying over me who are barely able to drive normally?

No.

Do I see a realistic need for a flying taxi?

No.

Are normal small existing planes to maintain quite expensive in Germany?

Yes.

Is it realistic that this financial overhead is feasible for all those people
actually living under those airways which would make sense?

No.

Do we as a society and not super rich want that?

No.

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jccooper
Calling it a flying car seems to be triggering a lot of misunderstanding. It's
not really a flying car, it's more of a driving airplane, but I guess that
doesn't get as much attention.

You're not going to use this for commuting from the suburbs, but for midrange
travel and/or those inclined to general aviation, there's a lot of use to an
aircraft that isn't confined to the airport.

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MegaButts
So what makes this different from the myriad other attempts to build a flying
car?

~~~
flyingfences
If we're being honest, probably just the marketing.

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erobbins
Flying cars are always poor cars and poor airplanes.

~~~
ncmncm
Moreso, flying submarines. Or even driving submarines. Winner will always be
the flying tunnel-boring machine, though.

------
imglorp
"Flying Car" drives me crazy. The requirements of flight and road travel are
enormously exclusive.

I'm super excited about the new possibilities personal, local flight enabled
by all the developing tech like batteries, multi-rotors, controllers, peer-to-
peer and ADS-B. That type of craft will go a long way to diminishing the needs
for roads and parking lots.

~~~
burfog
Those requirements are not enormously exclusive. It's only bad when you also
require low cost and minimal training. (avoiding: turbine, complex aircraft,
high stall speed, high performance, pressurized, etc.)

Consider a lifting body like the Martin X-24A. It's a decent car shape that
has been tested to 1036 MPH (1667 km/h, Mach 1.6). Add the engine and lift fan
system used in the F-35B VTOL aircraft, and you have more than enough power
for high-speed flight. You won't even need a runway.

------
rafaelvasco
As much as I dream of someday being able to just buy a flying machine and go
away flying it's unlikely to ever happen, not in the way these companies are
envisioning it. I have this crazy vision about flying machines: Free direction
takeoff. Not just horizontal takeoff; Warp drive propulsion: If lots of flying
machines just fly in the same space-time plane it would become a mess, fast.
Until science discover some way to warp the space/time around the machine it
won't work; I'm talking hundreds of years till we get there; Guess my
imagination is pretty fertile;

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qanael
I've always felt like flying cars are a solution looking for a problem.
Massive deployment of flying cars has similar problems to cars on the ground
(need space to land/park, airspace isn't unlimited, humans can't be trusted to
fly safely). Additionally, they don't go fast enough to glide and don't have
enough rotor mass to perform an autorotation in the event of total power loss.
I doubt they're viable as a method of transportation at any large scale.

EDIT: Not to mention the much worse energy efficiency - staying in the air is
_expensive_.

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aidenn0
Tricycle layout (2 wheels in back, 1 in front) cars have always cornered
poorly compared to the reverse. I honestly don't know why this is, but it
would be a concern for me with this vehicle.

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verytrivial
Is it just me or do those wings look comically undersized given how small the
engine is?

And I can't picture how you're ever going to land this thing with basically no
travel in the landing gear and the wings inches from the surface. I'd like to
see a 1:3 model land a few dozen times before any human gets into one.

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flyGuyOnTheSly
Looks about as sturdy as a dodge neon with wings imho...

Why the hard angles on the tail wing attachment? Seems like it's just begging
to get ripped off in turbulence.

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markstos
He keeps saying "you" in the video, like we all have room in our garage for a
2 seat flying car and a personal airfield.

Yawn.

I was more excited about the Faraday electric commuter bike I saw at a bike
rack today:
[https://www.faradaybikes.com/product/cortland/](https://www.faradaybikes.com/product/cortland/)

Practical, fun, reasonably priced, and viable now for a whole heck of a lot
more people than flying cars!

~~~
sli
Word 'round the campire is that Faraday is shutting down. Is that still true?

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slowrabbit
Needs 4 wheels to be considered a car. Nice trike though.

~~~
yellowapple
The Daihatsu Midget and the Reliant Robin would both like a word.

