Should I buy a Moeller Sky Car or a Samson Switchblade?

Tell your friend to buy rollerblades, instead. And then tell him he’s on his own in figuring out how to organize his “coming out” party on Instagram and Facebook.
 
With that short wingspan the Terrafugia really does become a flying car when the engine quits. Good luck.
 
Brad Smith said:
With that short wingspan the Terrafugia really does become a flying car when the engine quits. Good luck.
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Ok, truthfully, I don’t think Terrafugia will actually start production next year. I should have included a wink emoji ;)
 
Flying car designs are always too much of a compromise to be useful. I believe the best of the breed was Molt Taylor's flying car from the 1950s. It was a clean design but a marketing flop as all flying cars have been. They actually built 6 of them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerocar
 
It’s not even the compromises that is the real problem. Those suck royally but...

It’s putting a machine worth big bucks, at risk of a dumbass fender bender by a soccer mom in a minivan who has it full of her own spawn, and carries the minimum automotive liability insurance allowed by law in your State, and no collision coverage for the $2000 scooby doo crap box on wheels.

Your underinsured motorist coverage should be impressive to buy for your silly flying car.
 
For the same money I think you could get a 210 and stick a small motorcycle in the back. Way more utility. Yes, its been done.
 
Buy one of each so you can give us a comparative pirep.

Somebody's gotta do it.
 
Nate has nailed the real problem. But that aside...I'm almost embarrassed to say this..I think Moller was on to something, just that the technology wasn't there yet. Look how far drones have come in the last few years. And they've built them powerful enough to carry individual people. Not that I'd surround my body by a handful of meatgrinders, but I've seen the videos of people who have. I think there are solutions for the problems we have now.
 
So, AOPA has an article this week that says the Switchblade should be flying this year. I figured it was just vaporware like so many others.
 
Brad Smith said:
Flying car designs are always too much of a compromise to be useful. I believe the best of the breed was Molt Taylor's flying car from the 1950s. It was a clean design but a marketing flop as all flying cars have been. They actually built 6 of them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerocar
Click to expand...


Actually, I think the one so called flying car that could be considered a success would be the Maverick. It was designed by a missionary to get in and out of remote places in the Amazon, but be able to drive close enough to make the trip feasible. Ease of use and learning was also a big design feature. It's actually flying and selling, if anyone wants one.

http://www.mavericklsa.com/index.html

The last 15 seconds of the YouTube is pretty funny.

 
Brad Smith said:
With that short wingspan the Terrafugia really does become a flying car when the engine quits. Good luck.
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And it will probably survive the landing like one as well... just like the General Lee.

1969-general-lee-dodge-charger-up-for-auction_1.jpg
 
What’s the crosswind component in the Maverick? That’s what I thought. Nothing more than a toy and an expensive one at that.
 
Brad Smith said:
What’s the crosswind component in the Maverick? That’s what I thought. Nothing more than a toy and an expensive one at that.
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It does what it was designed to do. Like I mentioned above, it's probably the only really successful flying car out there.

As far as crosswinds are concerned, what is the crosswind component of any other paraglider? Once you get up to a certain point crosswind doesn't matter. You just point it into the wind and hover on down.
 
Gerhardt said:
Nate has nailed the real problem. But that aside...I'm almost embarrassed to say this..I think Moller was on to something, just that the technology wasn't there yet. Look how far drones have come in the last few years. And they've built them powerful enough to carry individual people. Not that I'd surround my body by a handful of meatgrinders, but I've seen the videos of people who have. I think there are solutions for the problems we have now.
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You have twenty of those stupid multi-copters taking off in a rich neighborhood every morning and the non-flying neighbors will make sure they personally buy a politician to make the god awful noise stop, if they can’t get the HOA to do it.

Let alone the airspace and control issues for a city full of those. And parking issues. The boss will love it when you sandblast his BMW with your copter out behind the building when you arrive at work every morning and leave in the evening.
 
denverpilot said:
You have twenty of those stupid multi-copters taking off in a rich neighborhood every morning and the non-flying neighbors will make sure they personally buy a politician to make the god awful noise stop, if they can’t get the HOA to do it.

Let alone the airspace and control issues for a city full of those. And parking issues. The boss will love it when you sandblast his BMW with your copter out behind the building when you arrive at work every morning and leave in the evening.
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I worked for Robinson Helicopters in the 1980's when they were only building R44's. My boss told me Frank Robinson began commuting back and forth from his home in PV to Torrance airport in the R44, a pretty short hop. The neighbors complained about his helicopter and then it was over.
I'm always amazed about people wanting a "flying car" and not realizing the resulting carnage that would result from the average car driver piloting all these machines over Los Angeles on a busy Monday morning. It's never going to happen on a large scale unless it's completely autonomous with a new propulsion system with better reliability than what we have today. It would also have to be priced like your average Minivan. The dream of flying cars is still quite a way off into the future.
 
This is a necropost, but here's a new news report on the Samson Swichblade. They have 2300 reservations, and the starting price is estimated to be around $170,000.

www.kgw.com

$170,000 flying car created in Oregon takes off on first successful flight

Samson Sky's CEO said his Prineville company has been working on 'Switchblade' for 15 years. It can switch from driving mode into flying mode in three minutes.
www.kgw.com www.kgw.com
 
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