I've said it before and ill say it again.......

The idea of the A5 is awesome. Why not go ahead and build it with a 350hp engine and 4 seats. Make a legit traveling machine instead of a jet ski. Seems the roadblocks and time is the same.

Jet ski?

And I still want a jet ski! The Bonanza is my traveling machine. Doesn't the Pilatus cover the traveling mission pretty well for you?

That price increase is absurd, though.

I think a jet ski sounds like more fun and less headache than an Icon A5

[youtube]http://youtu.be/T-aZTi8bY3Q[/youtube]

Travelling is a great use for airplanes, but it's not the only use. I agree with you that it's top priority, though. If I own one airplane it has to be a good travelling machine. If I own two, however... [/quote]

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Well it looks mighty good, but I would rather want to have a modern Seabee, as for stall resistance my attitude is when my time is up it is up, and trying to delay it will only piss off the collector.

Yah, that price increase just killed it for me. I could see trying to form a partnership with a few others for a fun plane. But I think that just priced me out of the potential market.

Tim

I see absolutely nothing wrong with this picture.

Its already done and certified, its called a Lake amphib and its not a good float plane.

The type certificate and tooling are available for less than what you would pay for any new certified 4-place.

Marc,

What is wrong with a Lake. Seem pretty decent to me. Early ones underpowered. I would take one.

I was at Arlington 2006 watching the salesman give demo rides in the Searay. Had a line of 5 guys waiting. Came in to land with one guy, touched, bounced, added power a little late, the high thrust line nosed it over and it looked like at that speed he didn't have elevator authority to get the nose up, it hit the water hard and stopped. Then slowly started sinking.
The impact had ripped back one sponson (port side if memory serves), ripped back the port horizontal stab, and ripped the boot around the repositionable gear. That's where the water was coming in. He went full power and taxied up to the beach. Just made it before water started coming in over the gunwales.
The line of prospectives evaporated and the event removed any desire I had to own or fly one. The sponson seemed constructed of lawn chair aluminum. Stronger than that, maybe, but not strong enough to withstand a hard hit.
A far better option, IMHO, would have been the Mermaid, built by Czech Sport Aircraft. Bulletproof. Built like a tank and gorgeous. Problem was, we got over to the factory in the Czech republic and saw the construction of the sport plane that Piper was selling for a while (also well-built and beautiful) but when we asked about the Mermaid we got a lot of hemming and hawing. Seems the American partner had left the building and took the plans/rights/tooling with him. Or something. Kind of a murky story about who had actually designed the thing. Differing opinions. Sad, though, as if I were buying a Light Sport toy for the days after I chose not to go in for another medical, that's the one I'd get. I don't think anyone's making them now.

Agree rather have a 182 on floats for less money. Even better a used Bonanza!

This jetski can land on snow too.

http://www.lisa-airplanes.com/en/akoya/simplicity-and-serenity/akoya-flight-center.html

WJC

If only that were true.....

Until/Unless Part 23 is relaxed and/or larger airplanes are allowed an ASTM approval process, the roadblocks and time are significantly different. The talks about a relaxed Part 23 for smaller aircraft is certainly encouraging.

"Part 23 – Small Airplane Certification Process Study Recommendations For General Aviation For The Next 20 Years" (1.3M PDF link)
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/hea ... art_23.pdf

It might be worth noting, however, the success of the A5 would lay the foundation (manufacturing, engineering, production, etc) for Icon to expand the line.

I suspect we'll see the A5 evolve regularly and produce offspring a la Cirrus.