Samson Newsletter, September 2009

We are making great progress in product development, which we were able to share with the thousands of people who visited us at AirVenture 2009 in OshKosh, Wisconsin. For those of you who were part of the crowds, we thank you! We made several announcements at AirVenture, most notably that we had passed several engineering milestones and that we were now taking refundable deposits to allow interested purchasers to secure early delivery positions.

The list of depositors is growing, but our main emphasis remains on making good on the ‘dream’. We have received intermediate funding, and we are currently negotiating full funding with several sources. We are continuing with our product development at a rapid pace, with DAR Corp continuing to improve the aerodynamics and performance of the vehicle. Samson’s CEO, Sam Bousfield, just returned from meeting with Willem Anematt and his crew of engineers at DAR Corp in Lawrence, Kansas. The meeting was very successful, with discussion leading to several potential improvements – most notably in increasing wing size to reduce landing speeds.

We decided to retain Fowler flaps, already included in the design parameters, despite several other options. We did discuss including the recently developed top-wing air dams. These show promise, but they have not yet been flown. We may test them on a prototype, but for now, Fowler flaps are being used for final design.

We are re-designing the ducted fan inlet. As mentioned to you at the show, this is a priority for our product development team. We also feel we can improve the functionality of the rear of the vehicle. Many people like the looks of the existing vehicle, and we will work to retain the overall flavor of the design while making improvements in aerodynamics, function, and ease of maintenance.

We will be putting out another survey soon, and your help with this is always appreciated. We would like your feedback on several items. One thing we will never tire of is hearing from those who are interested in the project. If we are a bit slow in responding to your communication, it is only because of an overload of emails. When we receive 200 emails after a news article is published or a news segment airs, it takes time to get them all answered.

The answers to some questions may be of general interest, so I will mention them here. We are often asked ‘how much?’ We still have a TARGET price of only $60,000 (without engine or avionics). We are putting together a radio-controlled model kit for those who cannot wait. It will be around ¼ scale, and will operate on the ground as well as the air, just like the real Switchblade. We have not decided on a price for this yet. We also plan to have available an X-Plane model to fly in the computer.

More news is coming, and you will be the first to hear! Thank you for keeping track of us with the newsletter. It is the easiest way for us to communicate the status of the project, and to give you updates as they occur.

Happy Flying!