Fly An Icon Instead, flying car

Kirk Hawkins isn't building the Icon A5 for pilots. He's building it for people might otherwise buy a boat or a Harley, hoping a relatively inexpensive plane that's easy to use and a blast to fly will convince people to give aviation a try.

bug_airventure4The innovative A5 flew into the big AirVenture show here today and pulled up to the center square where everyone could get a good look at it. The amphibious plane is just as sexy as when we first told you about it in December, and it looks fast sitting on the tarmac. But Hawkins told Wired.com that isn't what the A5 is about.

It's about exploration and having fun.

"Icon's mission is not so much about transportation," the company's founder and CEO told the crowd gathered around the A5. "It's not about the usual metrics of speed, range, payload, altitude and complex cockpits. It's about getting you out there and interacting with your world."

Hawkins is passionate about making flying fun and not just a means of getting from Point A to Point B. A veteran pilot who has flown everything from F-16 fighter jets to Boeing airliners, Hawkins says his fondest memories aren't of breaking the speed of sound or flying a jetliner.

"The best flying that I've ever done has been low altitude, windows open, flying with my friends in a seaplane," he said.


And that's what the A5 is all about.

icon_a5_06Icon isn't preaching to the aviation faithful with the A5. The company has focused on designing a plane that will bring a new crowd to the hobby. Part of the company's marketing plan calls for attracting buyers who may be considering a boat or even a Harley. Hawkins said it's a huge market the aviation sector isn't tapping.

"There is a large audience out there that wants to fly," he said. "They just need the right products to get them out there."

The A5 is a light-sport aircraft, a class the Federal Aviation Administration created in 2004. Such planes fall between the ultralight experimental airplanes and the small planes you see at the regional airport. Light-sports have one engine and a maximum airspeed of 138 mph. Pilots must stay below 10,000 feet and fly only in clear weather during daylight hours. And they need only 20 hours of instruction to get started.

The plane has a list price of $139,000, and Hawkins told Wired.com the company has more than 400 preorders. Thirty-five percent of the $5,000 deposits are from non-pilots. The company will have sport pilot training programs for n00bs who buy an A5.

Power comes from a 100-horsepower Rotax engine, and the A5 needs 750 feet for takeoff and landing. It has a top speed of 120 mph and a range of 300 nautical miles. There's room for two people and 60 pounds of luggage. Wingspan is 34 feet. Icon has put a lot of research into making the A5 appealing to non pilots. The cockpit has been simplified so it looks less like an airliner and more like a car. "

The idea is that if you bring a brand new pilot in," Hawkins said, "they say, 'That's all I need?' "

Like many of the Internet startups the company resembles, Icon has taken a hit from the economy. Funding delays caused production to slip almost a year, but the company says funding is complete and the first delivery is expected in the middle of 2011.(www.wired.com)