Only works above a certain altitude. He's like 20 feet over those rocks.

I'm sure BTers would be split on whether they'd consider his flying safe or unsafe. However, I think the overwhelming majority would agree that it's quite a bit safer in an Icon than in a Bonanza. Engineering is a series of design decisions and tradeoffs made to meet the mission/requirements. The Bonanzas mission is very different from the Icon's. The former was designed to go fast, the latter to go slow.

I don't think he'd be dead in an engine out situation, necessarily. He was flying way above the stall speed, so he could probably ascend a bit after the engine quit and then put it down safely in the water. Certainly no easy feat, but again, at that speed in a Bonanza he'd be in a much more precarious situation.

I'm with you, David. He was, no doubt, well above stall speed and for the most part, very close to a huge runway (the water). An engine failure would only require that he slow down (and gain altitude in the doing of that) and then head over to the water and land. Be the same as flying a Bo over a dry lake (think Edwards) at 140-150 kts. Lots of energy to work with and lots of places to land. I would only disagree with you David in that if it would actually be a pretty easy feat...slow airplane, low stall speed, nearly unlimited landing area. Nothing to it.

Jim

Ah, the old fixed-gearless option.

There are a lot of seaplane pilots in my area. In fact every private hanger at KCFE has 18' ceiling so you can sell it to someone with a 206 on Amphibs.
One thing these guys all say, no low wing float planes. You can't dock them, so you have to go to a base with a ramp, or ram it on shore, or tie up by your dingy. It's hard to look cool rowing to shore in your dingy

Greg

This thing is a high-wing and as it doesn't have any wingtip floats you would be able to pull up to any low obstacle free dock. This is an LSA, the only lateral stability it is going to have is from the little sponsons. So even if you nudged it up to the dock, I dont see how it has enough stability for the pilot to step off the boat to tie it down.

They have a picture in their gallery showing someone standing on the right sponson. Now this is with someone in the left seat to counterbalance it and the plane is already listing. I would like to see a picture with only one occupant trying to climb out onto a dock without dinging the underside of the wing.



Same thing here. They have someone on the outboard sponson while the model jumps onto the dock.



Something like this would probably work the best for a permanent docking solution:

So they have designed a plane that has roll control in a full stall, that should save some lives. My question is have they done anything to keep from flipping the thing if someone trys to land the thing on the water with the gear down?

Some of those videos where some one lands a cessna with the gear still down and flips on the water are kinda scary!

Looks like a ton of fun to me, I'd be interested if it ever comes to market. Oh yeah and I had the money to spare!

Nothing like cruising 100 ft off the water in a Baron!

I , as a swimmer, always planned to do the butterfly if I was less than 100 yards from shore..

Wow

Critics are a dime a dozen. I applaud the innovators. They are rare.

Each aircraft we fly is the work of an innovator to overcome the critic. When the innovation becomes so obviously successful, the critics scurry like insects.

I will be cheering for Icon and Kirk. We need new GA products...especially ones that run on cheaper fuel and cost less than $200,000.

According to this week's issue of AW&ST, the Icon A5 is ~250# overweight. Mgt is
hoping the FAA grants them an exception due to their demonstrated spin resistance.

If the FAA does not approve the exception, Hawkins says "some features will be
removed."

My hunch:

- Folding wings
- Ballistic chute

If the FAA does not approve, I don't approve of the FAA.

Silly plane anyways.

Bummer it has taken this long and still isn't on the market. When we were shooting the first "Ironman" he trailered it down and it got parked inside Tony Stark's workshop along with his other toys. The director and production designer liked the way it looked alongside the other stuff and figured it was something the character would have invented.

When I was talking with the owner/ designer about the plane, at the time he had hoped to bring it to market within in two years and sell it for $110,000.00 if I remember correctly.
Which could be suspect because I do not remember what year we did the picture. <grin>

It's a shame the price has gone up substantially and still hasn't gone into production.

- Mike

If you're gonna take the time to build and design and airplane and do all the BS required...... Shouldn't you go ahead and build one that isn't a toy?