Link: http://www.samsonsky.com/

I was at a business conference today, and one of the other attendees asked about my plane after hearing that I flew us into Dallas Love for the conference.

He then told me he put a deposit down on a "switchblade" and asked if I'd heard of it. Considering how much time I spend reading about airplanes, I was surprised I had not. He showed me the web site, and when I asked a few questions, it was clear he didn't retain many performance details about the plane.

So I asked if he already flies, and he surprised me with a no. "I've got two years before my build slot comes up, so I have time to get my license."

We were short on time to continue the conversation, but I was amazed that a non-pilot might become a pilot AFTER placing a deposit on experimental vaporware that he intends on also being his first build. I left him with a final word of encouragement to get the license right away.

Sounds like the buyer and the company are a matched set.

Mike C.

I've heard of it, saw early concept at OSH, and catch the occasional video update. I consider it least likely to succeed, but I hope they prove me wrong!

I just reserved my build slot..... Let's all sign up.

AvWeb says 75 prepaid orders... that's $10.2 million.

300 deposits... another $600,000

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr_QEo9emSw

Shoot, those guys at Samson can have a lot of fun playing in their shop on those kind of dollars. It reminds me of a number of Kickstarter campaigns. Lets hope they can deliver a product at the end.

Jason, your idea of blowing up the reservation list is pretty funny It's probably what these guys deserve. The deposits will turn out to be as imaginary as the final product.

Well he did break the sound barrier with his own design prop plane. I mean he was just a few months from doing it so it’s really just like doing it !

http://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/s ... r-2746174/

The marketing is excellent, it made me want to buy one.

I know this isn't going to happen but this made me start thinking about how somebody could make it happen. Once we get better power density in batteries, this would be a lot easier to pull off. You wouldn't need a transmission, you'd have a motor for the prop and a motor for the wheels. If the battery could handle the discharge rate, you'd have the opportunity to power the wheels and prop at the same time and do some really short field take off's.

I saw the video they put out that animates the transition from road to sky. The tail engineering doesn't instill a lot of confidence. Lots of moving parts on this thing, but if it were viable, I bet it would be fun to own.

If you listen closely to the marketing, the are already admitting it won't flare for landing or rotate for takeoff like a normal plane. Not sure if doing so would cause a tail strike, or if elevator authority is lacking.

I do like the decision to certify the ground vehicle as a motorcycle. That probably avoids a lot of the problems and weight the Terrafugia Transition was saddled with.

And the decision to go EAB rather than LSA is a good one, especially for a small company. It will enable higher weights and performance, which are going to be helpful to make a useful vehicle. And of course, less capital and oversight to bring to market.

I think this is reasonable. Lots of potential pilots won't invest in training until they know (think they know?) of an aircraft that fits their budget and mission. Even if its vaporware, your new acquaintance doesn't see to be ready to start training until he knows his will be built.

In this case, that is probably a good thing because training in a 152 might not be the best path for someone hoping to fly something like this.

I think this is reasonable. Lots of potential pilots won't invest in training until they know (think they know?) of an aircraft that fits their budget and mission. Even if its vaporware, your new acquaintance doesn't see to be ready to start training until he knows his will be built.

In this case, that is probably a good thing because training in a 152 might not be the best path for someone hoping to fly something like this.

Fraud.