A high-speed rail connecting Sacramento with the Bay Area could take years, if not a decade. But on Sam Bousfield's flying motorcycle, you would be able to make it to the Bay in less than 45 minutes.

Bousfield's Meadow Vista-based company Samson Motorworks is currently creating a prototype of the hybrid motorcycle/airplane. The Switchblade Multi-Mode Vehicle is a two-passenger three-wheeled motorcycle with fully retractable wings that turns it into a plane.

Well, at least it will be, said Bousfield, who hasn't yet actually built a working model.

This Saturday, he will bring a quarter-scale model of his imagined vehicle to the California Auto Museum's "Born To Ride" exhibit, which will be on display from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Between 1 and 3 p.m., Bousfield will also be available for a public meet-and-greet and discussion about the future of transportation.

Bousfield, 53, describes himself as "mechanically inclined." He earned an architecture degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before working with Boeing engineers on aircraft propeller technology for a race plane. He eventually helped design a new plane wing that would allow a propeller plane to break the sound barrier.

Moving on from that project, he created Samson Motorworks in 2000 which develops aircraft. Bousfield first thought about creating a flying motorcycle in 2003, but two and a half years ago, he got serious about the Switchblade, realizing aviation needed something useful.

"I wanted to get more people into aviation, off the roads and into the air," Bousfield said. "You look at anybody's dream of the future and they're (traveling) in the air."

He teamed up with about 16 other people, including employees of an aeronautical engineering company, and a team of three certified flight instructors, one of them Bousfield's personal flight instructor, Don Campbell. The plane is a kit-plane, meaning its $60,000 cost will only cover the purchase of the frame's parts.

Purchasing one of three engine options, which can give the engine up to 260 horsepower, will cost an estimated $20,000 more.

Then, you have to put it all together.

The kit is for a person who has average tool skill, not a professional, Bousfield said. Though he says it takes about 2,000 hours for the untrained builder, he plans to have a build center where professionals can help you put it together in less than three weeks.

Also in the works is a pair of non-flying models called Aerobikes, which get up to 70 miles per gallon, and another flying vehicle called the Snowbird. The Snowbird will be able to store a pair of skis on top of the vehicle during drive mode, and move them underneath the cabin during flight mode.

Campbell, 64, who will finish training Bousfield to fly in about three weeks, said he hasn't seen any viable flying car-type invention since the 1950s.

"There happens to be an Aerocar at the Auburn airport, and it's a flying car," Campbell said. "It's about as close to one I've seen with the same abilities, (but) the Switchblade and Samson Motorworks is really on the cutting edge."

Campbell explained that the aviation controls, motorcycle controls and instrument panels are extremely conventional and familiar to any motorcyclist or pilot. The senior flight instructor at Sierra Vista Aviation in Auburn, also offered to teach future pilots of the Switchblade.

Samson Motorworks received its first $2,000 deposit for the Switchblade kit in July and has received 20 more since then. A motorcycle license is required to drive it, and a private pilot license is required to fly it.

What's the next invention?

"I've always wanted to go into space," said Bousfield.

To view the full specs of the Switchblade, visit Samsonmotorworks.com.

California Auto Museum, 2200 Front St., Sacramento. Admission to the museum is $8, $7 for seniors, $4 for students. Children under 5 are free.