Plane & Pilot Magazine  │  ICON A5Has Entered The Building  │ Thursday, June 18, 2015



# The ICON A5 Has Entered The Building

Plane & Pilot’s Marc C . Lee flies the ICON A5

By Marc C. Lee


## Not since the 1930s has airplane innovation been impacted as much as it was yesterday when ICON unveiled their hotly anticipated A5 amphibious aircraft to the public through a handful of pilot journalists. It was the first time any pilot outside of the fa ctory test team has been allowe d to experience this amazing aircraft.

For almost a decade since the A5 was nothing but a crudely‐draw n sketch on a napkin, tongues have been wagging and volumes of words have been writte n about the innovation and intense design going into this elusive aircraft. Fans began putting deposits on the A5 after a mere announcement and a mockup stati c model. Since then ICON has embarked on what might be the greatest design challeng e in aviation history.

Yesterday, it became clear that the company succeeded. The list of milestones and firsts is long and merits an article in itself, but the bottom line is that the ICON A5 will change the general aviation world. An airplane that has met and superseded any expectation, my guess is that a lot of aviation know‐it‐alls wi ll be eating their share of humble pie in the coming months. Why all the hyperbole? Because the A5 is that good.

The A5 was designed around the idea that flying is fun. Period. That small statement has driven tens of thousands of hours of intense design and eng ineering by the greatest minds in the industry today. Every fastener was though t out; every curve considered for its function and for how it makes a pilot feel. In the cockpit, every nuance of control was designed, re‐designed, and re‐designed ag ain until every control movement put a smile on a pilot’s face. The result is u nprecedented.

The biggest story, though – and there is not enough space here to tell it all – is that ICON has succeeded where no other airplane manufacturer has: th ey have designed aPlane & Pilot Magazine  │  ICON A5Has Entered The Building  │ Thursday, June 18, 2015

truly spin‐resistant wing. Imagine pulling the stick back in yo ur favorite GA airplane until the airframe shudders like a bronco with the wrong size b it in its mouth. Now imagine at the moment when the airplane stops flying, shoving a boot‐full of rudder with the stick held against your gut. Now imagine that same air plane, shuddering a bit more but flying in a controlled fashion and even banking to the right or left. While slightly climbing. That’s the ICON A5.

A few words can’t describe the feeling; the hesitation that a p ilot reared in convention GA feels when stomping on a rudder pedal at 800 feet AGL at the top of a deep stall. The trust it takes to believe that a world‐changing wing design will keep you alive while performing the one thing a pilot should never d o. And consider the intense joy felt when the result is as unremarkable as a passin g breeze. What ICON has done here is special, and th e aviation world should and mus t take notice.

The A5 has been engineered with a control feel that approaches criminal in its sensuousness. The feeling of putting the A5 into a bank is like the smooth cabernets and sauvignons of the Napa Valley where our flight tests are ta king place. The control harmony reminds me of a DeHavilland Chipmunk or a T‐38. Think i t and the airplane obeys.

From power‐off glides to water landings to takeoffs to hard‐sur face runways, the A5 is a special aircraft. Marketed mostly to non‐pilots, I feel the A 5 will change how we look at everything from flight training to instrument panels. In fac t, another huge story inPlane & Pilot Magazine  │  ICON A5Has Entered The Building  │ Thursday, June 18, 2015

the ICON saga is the introduction of the angle‐of‐attack (AOA) indicator. In the A5 it is the primary instrument, and using it was transformative, fun, a nd educational to every degree. Though ICON didn’t invent the idea (the military has be en flying the “alpha” for decades), their success with the A5 will prove to general a viation once and for all that AOA indicators make sense and should be required in every aircraft, but that’s a fight for another day.

For now, I can report that ICON has a winner here. An amphibiou s aircraft that brings together the best of water and sky, it puts passion back in avi ating. It is an experience as pleasant as a furry puppy, as intense as a passionate kiss, as rewarding as sun, sky, and water can be, and as fun as anything your pilot’s mind can think of. And if pragmatic success comes from this airplane, our industry will b e changed forever.

For now we can sleep safe knowing that there is still joy and p assion in aviation. That for all the airport closures and foreign buy‐outs, flying is st ill something special. It’s a world that some of us will stay in no matter the tribulation. W hile the rest of GA argues over 3 knots of speed and 32 lbs. of payload, I’ll be ou t in the sun with my elbow on an open windowsill enjoying the lake water spraying my swim suit as I bank around the hills and valleys of Napa. All of it courtesy of the ICON A5. Look out world.