(NewsReady.com) – A scene straight from Hollywood played out in real life in Washington in recent weeks. A car soared across the sky on its first flight. You read that right. A flying car completed its first flight.
In November, the vision of the executives at aircraft maker Samson Sky was finally realized. Its flying car, Switchblade, made its first flight at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington. The flying vehicle was in the air for almost six minutes.
The flight came after 14 years of work by Samson Sky. KTVZ reported that CEO and Founder Sam Bousfield said, “When [the flight] actually happened, it was almost like a timeless moment.” He expressed excitement about the success, saying, “Holy cow! This just happened!”
The three-wheeled, street-legal vehicle can transform from a car to a plane in under three minutes. The vehicle has a retractable tail and wing that fold into the body when the driver is on the road. It has two seats and a luggage compartment that’s large enough to fit two overnight bags and/or two golf bags.
The vehicle has a 190-horsepower engine that can power the propeller while it’s in the air and the wheels while it’s on the ground. The engine reaches speeds of up to 190 miles per hour (mph) in the air and 125 mph on the ground. It has a range of 450 miles in the air, 700 on the ground, and can fly about 13,000 feet above sea level. The flying car can also land and take off on any runway at least 1,500 feet long.
The Switchblade base model costs $170,000. The higher-end model will cost someone $195,000 and comes with flight instruments, like those that help navigate through bad weather. Purchasers will need to have a pilot license if they want to fly it. However, the first production of the vehicle is still two years away.
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