If it had the capability to carry two real people 200 lbs + and stuff with full fuel it could be a very nice tender for boats and fishing boats etc.

folding wings could allow it to get into marina's and public docks etc.

Can they fold while it’s on the water by itself?

Can they fold while it’s on the water by itself?

Is that in Vacaville or Tijuana? Or, maybe both. Last I heard they were building a big new manufacturing facility in TJ but I never heard that they finished and got it up and running.

Is that in Vacaville or Tijuana? Or, maybe both. Last I heard they were building a big new manufacturing facility in TJ but I never heard that they finished and got it up and running.

To be clear....I didn't mean anything derogatory with the TJ reference. I think there are a lot of good and respect companies manufacturing down there. I'm curious if they completed their manufacturing facility down there, that's all.

I on the other hand do, out of the many times I’ve been down there I’ve been solicited for all sorts of stuff, drugs to very underage looking girls, both are not my jam, but yeah, that’s TJ, papas and beer is fun, some good street side food, it also more sketchy crap than you can shake a churro at

They originally wanted to have power-folding wings, but could not afford the additional weight. Their "booth airplane" (not an actual flying airplane) had power fold.

The current folding mechanism involves an engagement of the wing tips into the tail to make rigid for transport/trailering. Even if they did automate folding, that would still likely need to be a manual last step. Automated folding and the ability to use boat ramps / boat houses would be very cool.

Light Sport max gross for an amphib is 1430 lb. They asked for (and received) a waiver for a gross weight of 1,680 lb (250 lb more!). Online specs seem to indicate they are keeping some of that in reserve. I see a published gross weight of 1510 lb. (empty weight 1080 lb). I have no idea what a typical A5 weighs when empty.

I'd like to know from any owners what the TO distances are (on land) and the climb rates at gross.

The wing/spin/stall resistance of the design is very impressive.

Hangar neighbor has one. Lotta money for them!

The real people I flew with weighed about 165# each. Plenty of performance, about 500 fpm climb typically.

AOA gage is a nice way to fly the airplane.

Training manuals are well laid out and encompass about four spiral bound books. When I checked out the program was really geared to ab initio pilots presumably going to get their sport pilot certificate in their newly purchased A5.

Wings fold on land only. Though to dock as it's low on the water, easy to beach.

In 2017 or so the Vacaville facility was the assembly plant and the composite shell plant (i.e. airframe) was in TJ. At least that's how I understood it. They had their own ramp at Vacaville and you could fly in and taxi over there to rent the A5 at that time.

If one has the disposable cash, it's a nice plane. A pilot in the midwest might lust for a Staggering and one with a lake house an A5. It's that sort of thing.

That’s great that the people you flew with were either fit, young or small (or lied about their true actual weight like virtually everyone does). But the CDC shows, based upon 2015-2018 data, that the average weight of males over 20 to be 200 lbs and women over 20 average 170 lbs. So two “average” men clothed, with a few bottles of water, snacks, iPads, etc probably top 210 lbs each. That’s easily 420 lbs. in a plane with UL of only 430 lbs. Not even 2 gallons of fuel legally. I bet owners are routinely taking off and flying overweight.

And if you look at the POH on the official icon company website, it shows an absolute limit of pilot or passenger wearing soft-soled shoes that distribute weight is 250 lbs. Apparently the cabin floor, steps and seat could suffer damage if you are heavier. It sounds like boots with firms soles could also damage by concentrating lbs/sq in.

I took a demo flight with them (I'm still a position holder) and I was wildly unimpressed with their confidence in the plane.

I've been flying for a while. I've flown about 25 different aircraft types over a few thousand hours, including about 150 hours in a 2-place pod-forward high wing with a tail boom and a pusher Rotax.

It's sold as a beginner's airplane, but the factory pilot did not let me take the controls for takeoff or landing.

WTF?

It has a pretty narrow niche and fills it well, but it's not for me. It didn't help that they had a bunch of airframes waiting for fuselage crack repairs at this airport (I was at their Tampa location.)

Weird. For the check out I flew right away but had already developed a good rapport with the instructor in the ground portion, having studied all the materials provided in the previous week. Was also SES/MES.

it’s very expensive for what it does but it is very pleasant to fly and work the water with. Land not so much.

They were usually fueled to 50% when you picked one up (rental) or for a lesson.

I wasn't being given a checkout; it was a demo flight. I did no studying beforehand. The pilot and I chatted about my experience, but it was as much a sales chat as anything. It's reasonable to say that the pilot may not have given a crap about my experience.

It not so much that I'm a magnificent pilot, it's that this is being marketed as a beginner's plane. It's not unusual for instructors to allow students doing a very first flight in a 152 to do the takeoff and landing (closely shadowed, of course.)

A student can't break a 152 unless they really try, but I got the impression that they were very worried about a student breaking an A5 - and there were a few A5's waiting in line for repairs to cracked airframes.

Standard for Van's RV demo rides.
Only given to licensed pilots. I was told up front that only the Van's factory pilot will take off & land, and no aerobatics.
Other than that, I was free to fly as I wished.

When we returned, there was an RV-7 empennage kit on a cart in the lobby.
"That one has your name on it"
Good marketing. I purchased it on the spot and brought it home.