Slick and pretty airplane - it seems some investors see value in this market sector.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/wGJqbGsQL58[/youtube]

The 2012 bankruptcy delayed LISA, I suspect. Of course it's good that some Chinese have money to burn on this. Worked great for Cirrus!

LISA Akoya:
first flight - August 2007
not on sale as of 2019

ICON A5:
first flight - July 2008
as of 2019, dozens were sold

I think if I wanted an alternative to Icon A5, I'd get a SeaMax. I'm okay with SeaRey too. Neither of them folds though. But neither does Akoya!

Really interesting gear/foil configuration. Seems like those would have to withstand a pretty good amount of force on the water.

My guess is that the market will see it as too “interesting”, but we will see.

Looks fantastic. Performance looks great too. I’d buy one.

Same lift, less drag, and shorter lever arm compared to a float. Not a big structural challenge at all.

You can get a folding wing kit for the Searey.

Doug

$538,000 for a two place aircraft with very little cargo space that goes 155mph? Seems somewhat hard to justify. You could get a (very) nice C185 amphib. for that price (plus a couple year's worth of fuel, skis and bushwheels) with far greater carrying capacity and utility. I think they will have difficulty at that price point. Guess we'll see.
The foil idea is interesting theoretically, but the first time theory meets reality will be when a 3 foot tree branch is floating just at the surface during takeoff or landing. Float planes and seaplanes will glide right over...hydrofoils? Not pretty.

How many icon’s have been delivered? I peeked into my neighbor’s hangar and saw one sitting there, wings folded

Had a chance to sit in an ICON recently. Very underwhelmed with the materials. IMHO they went too far minimizing weight to fit the LSA category. Example the carbon fiber floor around the rudder peddles is very flimsy. There were a number of places around the compost airframe stop drilled. Lots of examples like this.

Hopefully the FAA in increases gross weight limitations someday to make LSA's like this more robust.

Looks like a heck of a fun plane. When I lived in the upper mid-west, it would be an awesome lake hopper based on it configuration.

-David

Not mine but I’ll be flying it soon and can’t wait. Sitting in it just has a great feel and exudes FUN!