For some of us the holidays mean being stuck in traffic for hours on the way to relatives, or waiting for someone to pick us up at the airport.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could bypass all that hassle, with say, a flying car?

Sam Bousfield hears you, and he’s working on it.

The Meadow Vista architect, inventor and CEO of Samson Motors Inc. is developing a three-wheel flying car, which aviation enthusiasts will be able to buy and build themselves by late 2011.

Part Ferrari, part motorcycle, and of course, part plane, Samson Motors Inc.’s Switchblade will allow you to fly out from a local airport, land at your destination, then drive right up to the relatives’ front door in half the time it would take regularly. No traffic jams, no battles at the airport and no waiting for a ride.

Convenience in point-to-point transportation is quite appealing, but Bousfield, a student pilot, hopes that the Switchblade will even inspire non-pilots to get their license and do more travel up in the sky.

“The future in transportation is up in the air,” Bousfield said. “Not on the ground.”

The father of three’s flying car has really taken off since displaying his conceptual designs and information on the Switchblade at the largest air show event in the country the last two years — the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisc.

The first year Bousfield said his car/plane was well received, so much so that the organizers of AirVenture told him his Switchblade would be a featured display at this year’s July/August show. And with the prominent display and more than 600,000 in attendance, interest grew — to the point where people have already been placing pre-orders.

“It’s fascinating to me, I’m just happy to be a part of the whole project,” said Don Campbell, a flight instructor at Auburn Airport and member of the Switchblade team. “I’ve gotten more excited about it as time goes on, I’m excited to fly it.”

Currently Bousfield is working with DARcorporation, an aeronautical engineering firm in Lawrence, Kan., to come up with the final design of the Switchblade. He is also working locally with Meadow Vista motorcycle builder Bob Johnson to build the Switchblade’s “test mules.”

The “test mules” are the craft’s frame, suspension and drive train. These will be constructed and driven on a private test course sometime early next year.

“We’ll make sure we have all the nuts and bolts worked out,” Bousfield said.

Bousfield said the Switchblade, which will weigh approximately 1,500 pounds, will have the power-to-weight ratio comparable to a Ferrari California, and will hit speeds of 90 mph plus, all the while getting somewhere between 50 and 55 miles per gallon.

“We’re going for sports car-like performance on the ground,” Bousfield said of the Switchblade, which will have front and rear crumple zones. “It leans in the corners.”

The vehicle will be nearly 16 feet in length, 6 feet in width and a little over 5 feet in height. It will seat just two occupants, side-by-side, and it will have an in-flight cruising speed of 150 mph. The Switchblade, which will run around $85,000 for the kit and engine, will have a range of 880 miles on the ground and 340 miles in the air.

The Switchblade kit will be made to accommodate three engine types, offering as much as 200 horsepower.

Bousfield hopes to have a full-size model by the end of summer in 2010, and will have a flying Switchblade by the end of next year.

“We anticipate building one (prototype), and seeing how we can improve it, and then build a second one on those improvements,” said the CEO, who reported 3,000 subscribers to his e-newsletter about the Switchblade. “Then, we’ll fly that one at the end of the year.”

With hundreds of inquiries already by certified pilots — and from some of the children in scoutmaster Bousfield’s Boy Scout Troop — wanting to be the first test pilot, finding someone to take that inaugural flight won’t be a problem.

The question is, can you haul some presents in the back?

“It’s decent size,” Bousfield said of the trunk. “You can get two sets of golf clubs and still have some room.”

Andrew DiLuccia can be reached at andrewd@goldcountrymedia.com.

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Samson Motors Inc.’s Switchblade

Kit cost: $60,000

Total estimated costs (depending on engine type): $85,000

For more information: www.samsonmotorworks.com

Anticipated Standard Features

-- Driver adjustable seat

-- Continuously variable transmission (CVT) with forward, neutral reverse and flight mode; or five speed manual transmission option

-- Doors on either side of vehicle

-- Leather interior

-- Safety glass front windshield and hard-coated plastic side windows

-- Heating and air conditioning

-- Stereo sound system with MP3 player input

-- Multi-fuel engine

-- Seat belt/safety harness

-- Front and rear disc brakes

-- Video rear view monitor

-- Flexible electronic instrument main panel

-- GPS moving map for ground and air use

-- Extendable wings

-- Dual ground/air lighting system

-- Emergency location transmitter

-- Back-up air speed, altitude and altimeter

-- Ballistic chute recovery system.