Icon Aircraft

Vacaville, California-based Icon Aircraft has opened a new training center in Tampa, Florida, where pilots and non-pilots can come and fly the Icon A5 amphibious light sport aircraft. The training center opened yesterday at the Peter O. Knight Airport in downtown Tampa. “Peter O. Knight Airport is the ideal base for this because of Florida’s […]

Icon Aircraft will christen a new factory in Tijuana, Mexico, to produce composite airframes for the A5 light sport amphibian, Kirk Hawkins, founder and CEO of the California company, told Flying. Outside suppliers had been tasked with producing composite airframe components for the A5 until Icon decided in May to bring the work in house. […]

Icon Aircraft’s announcement yesterday of a sharp production cut and layoffs of 60 full-time workers comes at crucial time for the California startup. With deliveries anticipated to be in full swing by now, the company instead is shifting its delivery schedule by about a year as it continues to burn through its cash reserves. But […]

Reacting to a public backlash that erupted after Icon Aircraft began circulating a 40-page purchase agreement that the company asked buyers of the A5 light sport amphibian to sign before they took delivery of their new airplanes, the California manufacturer has replaced the contract with a far simpler document that removes nearly all of the […]

Icon Aircraft says its controversial customer agreement — a 40-page document that the first 100 buyers of the A5 light sport amphibian will be required to sign before taking delivery of their new airplanes — was really all about limiting the effects of crippling product liability, which the company says has negatively impacted the general […]

Each year, we at Flying select a small handful of products, companies or organizations that have had a positive impact on general aviation during the previous year. It’s the stamp of approval pilots look for when shopping for avionics, making aircraft-purchase decisions, or trying to separate merely good products from great ones. But it’s more […]

I’m generally biased in favor of anything that flies, but truth be told there have been a few light-sport aircraft that I haven’t enjoyed flying. I felt that those airplanes were so light on the controls that it was rather unsettling. While the Icon A5 looks cool, I was prepared for the worst when I […]

A large crowd gathered this morning at Icon Aircraft’s booth on the EAA AirVenture show grounds in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to witness the first delivery of Icon’s A5 amphibious light sport aircraft. Flanked by about 40 Young Eagles participants wearing matching outfits, Icon’s founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins handed over the keys to famed air show […]

The highly anticipated Icon A5 has completed an FAA audit that will allow the start of full production of the sleek amphibian. Icon plans to deliver its first customer airplane next month at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This week, Flying had the opportunity to fly the A5. Look for the full report in an […]

For fans of California-based Icon Aircraft, the anticipation of a new kind of light-sport airplane for a new kind of pilot is on the verge of becoming a full-fledged reality. Icon has completed the first customer A5 light-sport amphibian, which it plans to fly later this month and deliver in June after final FAA approval […]