Hey, guys, do you remember the ICON A5 aircraft that I wrote about in 2015? It’s a wonderfully innovative Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) that “reinvents recreational aviation”. This aircraft is designed for people who like to fly for fun (it is classified as an S-LSA or Special-Light Sport Aircraft).
The A5 has all kinds of wonderful features: it can land on land, water, runway, beach, dirt strip, etc.; and it has retractable landing gear, has folding wings for easy transport, and uses 91-octane (premium unleaded) automobile gasoline. It has some cool safety features too, like a spin-resistant airframe so if the plane stalls you won’t go into an uncontrollable spin, an angle of attack indicator to alert you to a potential stall, and a whole aircraft parachute in case of engine failure. (Please see my previous post about the ICON A5 or visit the ICON website for more details about this aircraft and how to obtain your Sport Pilot License).
NEWS – The ICON A5 production facility is currently up and running and you can order yours today on the ICON website by placing a fully refundable $5,000 deposit to get it delivered by the first quarter of 2019. The full cost of the A5 is $389,000 pre-configured with all available options.
ICON will contact you at least 180 days prior to your expected A5 delivery date to confirm your order and have you select your desired options. At that time, you will sign your Aircraft Purchase Agreement and an additional deposit will be required to confirm your order. Third party financing may be available.
If you don’t happen to have $389,000 just laying around, ICON has announced a beta-test program, called ICON Fleet Access, to make the A5 more accessible and more cost effective for those interested.
ICON Fleet Access is a full-service sales and aircraft management solution that offers 50% and 25% ownership shares of the ICON A5 and, unlike many other programs in the industry, will also allow owners to use other shared A5 aircraft in various locations across the U.S. as if they were their own. The program provides all scheduled maintenance, storage, insurance, scheduling, dispatch, staging, and even pre-positioning as well as A5 trailer access.
It’s like a time-share for the A5.
The program launches in the fall of 2018 in Tampa, Miami, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay area and may expand into Texas, the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes in 2019 if it is successful.
There are limited slots in the beta program and ICON is offering 25% shares for $95,000 initially for those who sign up early. Post-beta prices are expected to start at $125,000 for a 25% share of an A5 with monthly management fees of $900 to cover maintenance, storage, scheduling, and insurance, plus a $75 hourly rate when the aircraft is flown…
To learn more, visit ICON Fleet Access or contact a Product Specialist at fl*@ic**********.com or 707.564.4100.
Ah, to have an inexhaustible supply of money…
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
Is this the same type of plane MLB pitcher Roy Hallaway was killed?
Trino – Wow, yes, Roy Halladay was flying the ICON A5 when he was killed in Nov. 2017.
I am unsure whether it was aircraft issues or pilot error. Please feel free to post any information that you, Trino, (or if any of our other readers find out) about possible issues with this plane. I truly want to inform our readers to keep everyone safe!
I found the following reports on the Roy Halladay incident:
CBS Evening News about the incident just after it happened Nov. 8, 2017:
https://youtu.be/4ElP2v1_pbQ?list=PLW_GfvH9g8rENX6X0Hij3H1MS6v_1PSIA
NBC Sports about the preliminary NTSB report Nov. 20, 2017:
https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/phillies/new-details-emerge-investigation-roy-halladays-death
Forbes article entitled “Roy Halladay Was Flying With Fatal Level Of Amphetamines Before Crash”, Jan. 23, 2018:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinenegroni/2018/01/23/halladay-flying-with-fatal-level-of-amphetamines-before-crash/#40342b064c17
I also found this interesting article from Popular Science entitled “Why Private Planes Are Nearly As Deadly As Cars”:
https://www.livescience.com/49701-private-planes-safety.html
Thanks for your comment, Trino!
Sorry – the last link in my comment above was to a Live Science article, not a Popular Science article…
Kathleen, thanks for your nicely written piece. You may also find some information on my Seaplanemagazine.com about the frenzy that ensued following some accidents. Just search for his name. None of the accidents have ever been attributed to the aircrafts design or flight characteristics, the trolling questions appear often, however.
Jason – thanks for the information – I’ll check it out!
Ok if I get one will it benefit the Gadgeteer website? If so I’ll get two.
Ha! Nope, not this time 😉
Get one, fly it around, and write a review.
John – I would jump at the chance! Gotta get a pilots license first and then become independently wealthy…
Lex – LOL! ?
I’ll refrain from commenting on the last two accidents. Below is a link to the NTSB investigations of three reported ICON accidents.
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/Results.aspx?queryId=76eb0767-3df4-4dbe-aa05-c182e4849c10