Icon Aircraft CEO Kirk Hawkins shared a computer depiction of events leading to the crash of an A5 flown by factory chief pilot, Jon Karkow. From A5's onboard black box Icon engineers assembled a second-by-second path for the ill-fated Light-Sport Aircraft. The data showed speed, power settings, flap position, and more. According to the Napa Valley Register relating a National Transportation Safety Board report, "Pilot error caused the crash that killed two men in a small airplane on May 8, 2017 in Lake Berryessa." NTSB wrote, "The pilot, Jon Karkow, of Icon Aircraft in Vacaville, was flying too low, and mistakenly entered a canyon surrounded by steep rising terrain." The investigative agency said Karkow had taken off from the Nut Tree airport in Vacaville at 8:50 a.m. accompanied by passenger, Cargi Sever, a new Icon employee. The pilot intended to take Sever on a familiarization flight in the Icon A5 amphibious Light-Sport Aircraft, said NTSB. "It is likely that the pilot mistakenly thought the canyon that he entered was a different canyon that led to the larger, open portion of the lake," NTSB stated. "Additionally, it is likely that, once the pilot realized there was no exit from the canyon, he attempted to perform a 180° left turn to exit. Based upon performance information, the airplane would have not been able to climb out of the rising terrain that surrounded the area, which led to his failure to maintain clearance from terrain." Readers may examine the full NTSB report. That report states that the airplane appeared to be operating normally at the time of the accident, noted Icon. "A post‐accident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.” “It’s been a challenging year for sure,” said Kirk. “It was always Jon’s dream to do a production aircraft that embodied the fun of flying in its purest form. The A5 represents that vision and we are committed to carrying it forward in his honor.” The company offered this thoughtful tribute to Karkow.

Customer Deliveries Begin

The Video Pilot Report below may be one of the most anticipated VPRs my video partner Dave and I have produced. I did the flying at AirVenture Oshkosh 2015 on Lake Winnebago in late July, but because Icon preferred to provide the video footage, it has taken some weeks to put it all together. Production of one of these VPRs is a two-part effort. First, I invested some time to get to where Icon did their demo flying (away from all the other flying locations associated with Oshkosh). Weather and the company's desire to take aloft a reported 150 of their waiting owners forced a couple schedule changes. Since returning home, we worked with several helpful folks at Icon to assemble all the right video pieces. Finally, Dave invested many hours editing what you see below (or here). Our video should show you most of what you want to see about this impressive LSA including water takeoffs and landings, in-flight maneuvering, stalls (such as they are), low flying over the water, and the interior of the airplane including Icon's highly emphasized Angle of Attack indicator. At times, the audio is a bit abrupt because the noise-canceling quality of the connection stopped when we were not talking yet I think you'll find lots to like in the 25-minute video. Thanks to their very professional marketing and shrewd planning, Icon Aircraft grabbed the golden ring, capturing no less than five of aviation's top magazine covers in the same month. I've been in aviation longer than I care to admit and I don't believe I've ever seen that. It is the airplane equivalent of winning horse-racing's Triple Crown. Icon has since been flying a number of journalists from non-aviation publications. If you read those pilot reports in print magazines, you observed that every author gave glowing reviews. Were those writers swayed by Icon's superb media handling or is A5 that good? It's a valid question. After I returned from my flight more than one person hearing my complimentary assessment said, "Aw, you just drank the Icon Kool-Aid." You can believe I succumbed to the Icon "reality distortion field" (a phrase attributed to another great marketer, Steve Jobs) but I have overwhelmingly good things to say about A5. The LSA is artistically achieved, flies well, is comfortable, and oozes outdoor sports sex appeal. They nailed the stall characteristics that can confound new pilots, who have been the company's primary target since I first met CEO Kirk Hawkins while on the EAA Sport Pilot Tour back in 2005 ... a time when he remembers being "just one guy with a business card." After my flight and before returning to Wittman Regional Airport, I sat for nearly an hour in TJ's restaurant where Icon did their demo flying so I could type notes on my iPad. What appears below are some of the balancing remarks. I flew with Craig Bowers, an ex-military jet jock. His military training showed in various ways (as you might notice on the video below) but that background gave him a solid grounding in the use of an AoA indicator. The instrument is widely used on fighter aircraft. I have deep respect for AoAs, and Icon has done a lot to increase pilot awareness of it. However, most recreational or GA pilots are not used to flying with one and it takes some relearning. You'll hear Craig often refer to "on-angle white." This is AoA talk and perhaps the best thing I can recommend is for you to watch the AoA — the uppermost instrument in front of the pilot — as we maneuvered. While AoA use may not be automatic for pilots used to keeping a sharp eye on airspeed, most will quickly adapt to the Icon AoA presentation. I've often used the AoA indicator in Dynon's SkyView instrument — this can be added for very modest hardware cost — but I don't find their implementation as informative. Like others, they use a series of colored lines and chevrons where Icon's simple analog wing-airfoil needle is much clearer in my opinion. A5 handling is very predictable and reassuring. I'd call it about as good as it gets for a student pilot, or for that matter, for most of us. Those of you who love aerobatics or seek feather-light handling with snappy response might be less satisfied. Icon has repeatedly said they seek those two million Americans who got their Student Pilot certificate and then abandoned the pursuit, perhaps as life got complicated for them. I sincerely hope Icon can sell every one of them an A5 and I wholeheartedly applaud the effort to go after that largely-ignored market. A5 handling should suit all returning students. As you heard in the video, I'd prefer an altimeter better suited to seaplane flying, which is commonly done at low altitudes. The installed single pointer model moves only about one centimeter for 1,000 feet; we never went above that altitude in 25 minutes of flying. I'd also like a more tactile trim button. The installed one slid fore and aft and you had to check an indicator to know where it was set. Finally among my few gripes, a forward-opening canopy can be difficult to escape in an upset although open side windows would allow egress for determined occupants. Of course, such a problem is remedied by not forgetting to have the gear retracted on water landings. One downside of open windows — which I otherwise loved immensely — came in the rough water conditions of the day. I got doused good once when we caught a wave. Fortunately, the iPhone I had belt-clipped on the outside survived the soaking. Some pilots yearn for the fastest airplane they can fly without a Medical and they benefit from numerous LSA choices that can hit the 120-knot (138 mph) speed limit. Icon's A5 is not one of them. A few speeds for you — cruise is 85-95 knots with what I'd call a relaxed cruise at 75-85; maximum speed (or Vh) is listed in the brochure at 95 knots or 109 mph; stall comes at 39 knots with full flaps and 45 clean. We cruised the shoreline at low altitude at 70 knots at 4500 rpm at which power setting the Rotax 912 iS burns around 3-3.5 gph. As you hear on the video, sink rate with the prop windmilling in a stalled configuration is about 900 fpm; although it would be a very firm touchdown, this is slower than the descent rate under parachute. Speaking of the latter, Icon's brochure states, "Due to Icon's exemption to the U.S. LSA weight limit ... the Icon Complete Airplane Parachute is mandatory for U.S.-registered A5 aircraft. Complete Airplane Parachute pricing is not included in the estimated price." The comment brings up the last gripe I'll offer. Any seaplane costs more than a comparable land plane. Modestly priced models like Searey or Super Petrel run $150,000 or so, already beyond many budgets. Icon with a parachute and popular options will run well over $200,000 in 2015 dollars. Here's a few more stats — Icon said useful load is 430-550 pounds. With, say, 15 gallons of fuel, you'll have 340-460 pounds of payload. A5's baggage area can hold 60 pounds. Craig believed we flew at an empty weight of 1,075 pounds, which included four Go-Pro cameras and their mounts but an unstated amount of fuel. In closing, I would give Icon an A-minus grade. A5 is imaginatively designed and should satisfy a large percentage of pilots or wannabes. No airplane ever designed is perfect for every buyer and neither is A5. Yet had I worked to create this flying machine I would, rightly so, be immensely proud of my achievement. I salute Team Icon's effort and wish them the best as they ramp up production to meet a record-setting order book of some 1,500 deposits.

The big dogs have been fed. It will soon be time for we smaller critters to get our chance. Icon Aircraft reported that in late June, they hosted reporters from Flying Magazine, Plane & Pilot, AOPA Pilot, EAA Sport Aviation, and the Seaplane Pilots Association's Water Flying magazine. Those writers got pretty excited by their long-awaited experience in the A5 and I must admit, it has psyched me up as well. Over many years in this trade, I've had the pleasure to fly nearly 400 different aircraft, virtually all of them in the same space occupied by A5 yet, even with all that, I'm very much looking forward to my own A5 flight experience coming up just before AirVenture Oshkosh 2015. You can read about my flight experience on this website and you can presently find plenty of content (articles and video) about A5. No waiting required! The photo above shows three A5s in the air, an image I've never seen before. Is it real or is it Photoshop? I dunno. Icon has some real talent working for them, so maybe it's a Hollywood fiction. Yet based on the appearance of the six occupants or the sun's slightly different glint on the three spinning props, it looks real. Of course, so did the giant round boulder chasing Indiana Jones. So, tune in only a couple weeks from now and see how real I think A5 truly is.

Let the production begin! This, um ... iconic company in the LSA space has been brewing for a long time, long enough that some aviators have been grumbling, wondering if Icon is "for real." Today, the company announced that a week ago on June 11th, they successfully completed their FAA audit. That opens the door to serial production of a reported 1,250 orders as announced earlier this year. In addition, some media persons including yours truly, will get to fly the machine during Oshosh in just a few weeks. I'm excited to see how this well-promoted, long-in-development aircraft flies. "The successful completion of the FAA's audit of the A5 is one of the most critical milestones in our company's history," said Icon Aircraft CEO and Founder Kirk Hawkins. "This means that after years of intense development by the Icon team, our customers and the media will finally get a chance to experience the A5 firsthand and form their own opinion. We believe we created one of the safest, easiest to fly, most fun, and coolest light aircraft on the planet, and this is just the beginning for us. Icon's mission is to help reinvent flying by making it more accessible to all those who dream of it. It's a very personal, heartfelt mission for our team, so this is another proud moment along that journey." The California company flew the first customer aircraft for the first time on April 24th this year. "Given the years of work to get here, it's awesome to finally see production-ready, conforming A5 aircraft in serial production," said Chief Technical Officer Matthew Gionta. "For me and much of the team, the A5 was the most challenging aircraft program we ever worked on. It's hard to fully appreciate the massive amount of intelligence and hard work that has gone into this little consumer aircraft; it's a truly amazing airplane. I'm looking forward to our customers flying it and appreciating that effort firsthand." When FAA audits they review production plans and tooling, quality processes and manuals, plans for continued operational safety, and ASTM compliance procedures and manuals. Participants on the June audit included Aviation Safety Inspectors from the Washington, D.C., Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles offices. "There were no major issues during the FAA inspections," said Icon VP of Engineering Bill James. The company said that it will deliver its first customer aircraft on July 20th, 2015 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin. Although the FAA audit was conducted at their development facility in Tehachapi, California, Icon will transition serial production to its new 140,000-square-foot facility in Vacaville, California, in September.

According to a report in the North Bay (San Francisco) Business Journal, Icon will build its first 20 A5 LSA seaplanes before the end of 2015. Certainly in the LSA space, this can best be described as "much-anticipated event." At an annual meeting of the Solano Economic Development Corporation, the Business Journal reported, guest speaker Kirk Hawkins of Icon provided an update on the production of the A5. "The first Icon Aircraft production planes are currently undergoing flight verification testing, and 20 of our A5 aircraft are scheduled to roll off the Vacaville production floor in 2015," the Journal quoted. They added that Hawkins said production will follow the completion of construction at the facility in August, 2015. Earlier the California company reported taking more than 1,250 aircraft deposits, which they said represents nearly $300 million in backlog. "By comparison, Tesla Motors had approximately $100 million in order backlog just prior to its production start," Hawkins noted to the business development group. More recently a man told me that he had placed an order and was given number 1526 though he could not confirm how the numbering started or advanced. Regardless of the actual order count, Icon has earned bragging rights as the LSA company taking the most orders of any company in the Light-Sport space. Even Cessna didn't quite hit 1,000 Skycatcher orders and that project fizzled before production reached 300 units. For another number comparison (as reported in our 2014 LSA market share report), GAMA has stated that total single engine production worldwide was 986 aircraft in 2014. "We want to scale our solution, not scale problems that may be found along the way," Hawkins said, as reported by the Business Journal. "That is why we're starting production with only 20 aircraft this year, rising to an estimated 400 deliveries in 2016 and eventually up to approximately 1,000 aircraft annually in the future, as we establish global awareness and a brand presence in the marketplace." Hawkins told the business development meeting attendees that he sees a "deep and pervasive global interest. Some 30 percent of our customers today are outside the U.S., and there is an aviation gold rush in China equal to that in the States." Hawkins told the group that Icon presently has 100 employees but that the company expects to ramp up to 500 within the next year and a half. In return for incentives offered by the community, job creation is an activity locals will follow very closely. Several times I have visited Icon at their headquarters Los Angeles. In 2008 I toured their research and development and initial production facilities in Tehachapi, California. Now, the Journal reported, "In the third quarter of this year, all these functions will be consolidated in Vacaville when [plant] construction activities are completed." Along with many others, I wish Icon well at starting deliveries of this highly anticipated aircraft. I'm sure we will be hearing more as AirVenture approaches. They company has made the Oshkosh event their primary contact point.