2008-07-15 12:42:00
First test flight completes major milestone
LOS ANGELES–(EMWNews)–ICON Aircraft,
a new light-sport aircraft manufacturer, achieved an important milestone
with a successful maiden test flight of the ICON
A5 amphibious (land and sea capable) sport plane. ICON’s
team of engineers completed the full-scale prototype flight on
Wednesday, July 9 at an undisclosed lake location in California.
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px_UjBJiFd8
ICON Lead Aero Engineer and Test Pilot Jon
Karkow conducted the test flight, which demonstrated the aircraft’s
performance and flying characteristics during take-off, landing, and
low-speed maneuvering flight. In addition, the aircraft’s
performance during water operations was evaluated. Karkow is an
accomplished test pilot who has flown first flights for many notable
aircraft including the world-record setting Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
flown by the late Steve Fossett.
“Everything went as well as an initial test
flight possibly could go; so I was very pleased,”
said Karkow, a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. “The
aircraft flew exceptionally well and met or exceeded our design
expectations. The A5 seems to be a great aircraft right out of the box.”
The full-scale prototype aircraft is scheduled to undergo several phases
of test flights over the next year before the design is finalized. After
flight testing, a pre-production model will be built to verify all the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and ASTM compliance standards
before entering production in late 2010.
“I’m proud of what
this team has accomplished,” said ICON VP of
Engineering Matthew
Gionta, who served as Mission Director of the flight. “I’ve
been in the business of designing and building aircraft my entire career
and I’ve never worked with a more talented
team. When you get bright people pulling hard toward a common goal, then
really incredible things start to happen. The ICON A5 is an example of
this. It’s really an amazing aircraft.”
The ICON A5 two-seat sport plane features an amphibious design
with retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, plus
several patent-pending technologies highlighted by folding wings that
allow the plane to be easily stored and towed on the road with a trailer.
Designed to be predictable and easy-to-fly, the ICON A5 features
a high-strength, lightweight carbon fiber airframe and is powered by a
reliable, 100-hp Rotax 912 ULS engine that runs on both auto and
aviation gasoline at an estimated top speed of 120 mph. Besides the
folding wings, more unique features specific to the ICON A5
include an intuitive, sports car-like cockpit with MP3 port, and
patent-pending Seawing platform for easy access and docking on water.
The standard ICON A5 model is amphibious with retractable landing
gear and manual folding wings. The estimated price of the ICON A5
standard model is $139,000 and orders are now being accepted at www.iconaircraft.com
with a refundable $5,000 deposit. Aircraft production and initial
deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2010.
ABOUT ICON AIRCRAFT:
ICON Aircraft is a
consumer sport plane manufacturer founded by Kirk Hawkins, an
accomplished engineer and former U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter pilot.
Hawkins conceived the company during Stanford University Business School
in 2005 after learning of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
major regulatory changes that created the Light-Sport Aircraft market
and Sport Pilot license in 2004. A venture-backed, early stage company
out of Silicon Valley, ICON Aircraft quickly based its operations in
Southern California, which is a hotbed for aerospace engineering,
automotive design, and powersports activities. More Information: http://www.iconaircraft.com
ABOUT FAA LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT & SPORT PILOT CLASSIFICATIONS:
In 2004, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) created a new classification of easy-to-fly and
affordable two-person planes called Light-Sport Aircraft that enable a
new classification of Sport Pilots to fly. The Sport Pilot license
focuses on the fundamentals of flying and requires a minimum of 20 hours
of in-flight training, which is half the time and cost of a traditional
private pilot’s license. The Experimental
Aircraft Association (EAA) described the new rules as “the
biggest change in aviation in 50 years.”
Press Photos link: http://www.sportssystems.com/hosting/display.cfm?key=100924
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