Thanks guys, I really enjoyed this. After having watched many videos this is the first one that I could clearly hear the various sounds that the A5 makes. Well done.
This would be a great little plane to have in the wilderness area of far northern Ontario Canada. There are countless little lakes that never get fished, and this plane would allow you to jump from lake to lake for some great fishing!
It is fantastic for getting into remote small lakes. The downside for backcountry is the 440 lb (including fuel) useful load if you wanted to camp and take provisions. The tanks hold 20 gallons to give 4-5 hours of flight, but that would drop the remaining allowable to 320 lbs, so unless you were traveling alone there's not a lot of carrying capacity.
Single engine general aviation and experimental planes often are ‘underpowered’. Power adds weight and fuel burn. They have the number of horsepower needed to fly at the the speed, weight, and altitudes for which it was designed. A Mustang sports 400 hp... but a 90 hp VW beetle will still get you were you are going. No one buying an Icon is in an all fired hurry to get to some board meeting across the country. They’re going fishing.
Yup but my main concern with this aircraft is it’s category. For as little as 20 hours you can be behind one of these, and with its flight categorisation mixed with what can be a very unforgiving airplane could lead to accidents. This won’t accept hard landings and you can get yourself into situations that only someone with many more hours would be able to recognise or get out of
@@BillyN31 Weren't those all pilot error and not the plane? The NTSB put out a report saying it was due to "the pilot’s mistaken entry into a canyon surrounded by steep rising terrain while at low altitude". All the other crashes were 100% pilot error according to reports.
Just awesome! Favorite plane in xplane and Msfs. Reminds of flying in vr in xplane using oculus quest. Great video, much appreciated. Looked like lot of fun! What a life!
Its a dream come true, really. A plane that fly as simple as a car drives, and who's interior is also very car like. Add on the ability to land on water... PERFECT.
Thanks Frank. Appreciate your comment. I just flew the Icon yesterday for the first flight of the spring season. Absolutely fabulous machine - never gets old. :-)
I will give these guys plenty of space when I am flying around Lake Berryessa. A couple times in the video, they did not know West from East. They said the were going to West shore beach to take pics. They went to the East shore. The other pilot after a restart, said he was turning to the east then taking off to the north. Then he turns to the West and takes off to the North.
Great video; would love to do something like this; the A5 seems like a non-complicated aircraft to fly; one thing I notice is what appears to be excessive vibration, it may be the way the cameras are mounted but it seems the A5 is like sitting on a message chair?
A really great airplane for a recreational pilot but not practical for general aviation use. It reminds me of a jet ski that can become airborne. I would put it in the category of a recreational vehicle for someone who lives in a remote area where there is little air traffic. A fun little airplane but not in my price range as of now!
Yup but my main concern with this aircraft is it’s category. For as little as 20 hours you can be behind one of these, and with its flight categorisation mixed with what can be a very unforgiving airplane could lead to accidents. This won’t accept hard landings and you can get yourself into situations that only someone with many more hours would be able to recognise or get out of
looks like tons of fun in the right setup. Would i buy one? if I had half a mill laying around - yeah. but the weight limitations would be aggravating. I suspect it may cause some to cheat - dangerously. nice bird...
Great video. Thanks for posting. I used to go on motorcycle rides around Berryessa back in the mid-2000’s so this takes me back. Question (coming from a non-pilot), watching the controls as you approached the lake and then as you made your first few turns while descending, it looks like you made them with rudder only, i.e. I didn’t see the stick move at all. Did I see that correctly or were the moves so subtle I just missed them?
Hi Eric, yes the stick moves too (along with rudder inputs) for turns, but you're right, it's very subtle. It's a very responsive plane and requires minimal stick input for aileron and elevator control.
@@love2aviate262 what I've found is if the water surface is choppy or rolling the rudder comes out of the water into midair? Slight ripples is great and great fun!
I would like to know if it is already being marketed and if it can be imported or there is direct sale to Brazil. Amphibious aircraft style I'm interested in buying.
What about bad weather flying? I don't even see windshield wipers. Perfect hop about for NorthWest islands and lakes and Alaska but does it handle de-icing and real cold?
Yep. Nice catch. Flaps are optional for Icon LAND landings. POH 4.13.2 Flaps-UP, or AS DESIRED. Short field land or Soft field land are required Full Flaps (30 degrees). I like to use full or half flaps for most land landings except in gusty conditions where I want more speed. It offers reduced energy and lower stall speed at touch down and gives a shorter rollout.
I thought they would be around 100k, but 269k for a base model is very high. I would attribute this to the hoops needed for manufacturing. It's much cheaper to make an "experimental" kit plane than to make a turn key, FAA approved float plane. This plane does meet a specific market sector's need. For example, people that live on bodies of water but work further inland. There are thousands of pilots like this that currently fly cessna float planes that are heavier and less maneuverable plus cost more for maintenance. I know a few pilots like this that fly solo 90% of the time and would prefer a more nimble plane like this.
This strikes me as a toy for the affluent. Practicality and price are secondary considerations. If I could afford it, I would buy one, along with some waterfront property.
How regulated is flying this bird. If the "weekend done well for themselves warriors" buy this, its not a toy and I would think all rules of aeronautics should apply. Because of the market this craft appeals to, I see trouble.
It was the lead engineer and chief test pilot, who was the PIC, and the head of engineering who was the passenger. The official report was collision with terrain due to pilot error.
$270K base as of 2019. "IF" I lived near a bunch of water and was not going to go past Sport, AND I had a ton of money, this is a nice plane. Parachute, easy to manage, good stall characteristics. If you're only doing VFR this, and a Cavalon, would be the idea pair for a recreational pilot. MOO. YMMV. :)
What was the aircraft problem with the Land aircraft message? You would def have to remind yourself not to deploy the landing gear for water landings and on the flip side def don’t forget to deploy the gear for runway landings.
We don't really know the exact problem. It's like the "check engine" light in a car . . . it could be any number of things. In any case, every time it's happened (which is rare) a landing and restart seems to solve it. I suppose if it were serious it would not resolve and then there would be no take-off. So again, to answer the question, I dunno. :-)
make it electric instead of pissing about with old tech and you will have something and why oh why do pilots and air traffic have to speak martian speak english!! "Good grief talk about making a job hard"
Batteries necessary to make it possible would probably push the aircraft out of the light sport amphibious max gross weight limitations of 1430 lbs. If that happened, you would need a much more expensive license to fly it which would defeat the point.
За 389к Я бы лучше взял 182 или 206 цессну,а на этом летать только в идеальную погоду и вдвоём хер взлетишь с воды наверно. Большинство ютуберов летают на них бесплатно,просто за рекламу.
its really fun but its extremely expensive, i mean i can afford 250k but its not worth it, i really hope make it available for everyone 100k is a fine price by me.
