ICON A5

The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft (LSA) designed and produced by ICON Aircraft. A concept aircraft was first flown in 2008, and creation of the production tooling began in December 2012. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014. A year later at AirVenture, it was temporarily donated to the youth group Young Eagles, with the first official A5 customer deliveries occurring in 2016. As of 2019, 100 A5s had been delivered, although company legal and financial issues have slowed production since 2016.

Development

ICON Aircraft positions the A5 with a recreational focus, stating that the aircraft competes with powersports vehicles such as ATVs, motorcycles, watercraft, and snowmobiles, rather than other airplanes. ICON founder and former CEO Kirk Hawkins said of the aircraft, "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." As part of this effort, the cockpit interior was designed by BMW designers, and the exterior was designed by Nissan designer Randy Rodriguez. ICON's media debut in Wired and coverage in the mainstream media showed that there was significant interest from outside the aviation community, and ICON has reported that 35% of its customers are not pilots.