If you’re looking for your next adventure, this is the vehicle to have! The ICON A5 is a light sport amphibious airplane that reinvents recreational aviation. It is sport flying tailored to pilots who primarily fly for adventure, fun and pleasure.
With over 200 seaplanes sold so far across the country, the ICON is easy to fly, light weight and has low operating costs. After purchase, the minimum pilot certificate needed to fly the A5 is a sport pilot certificate that requires a minimum of 20 hours of training. ICON offers owner training at their Vacaville, CA headquarters and at their Flight Training Center in Tampa, Florida.
A few weeks ago, I experienced a flight in the ICON A5 with Suzanne Clavette, Marketing Manager and demo pilot at ICON, and it was a very fun afternoon. We took off from Peter O’Knight airport on Davis Island, flew around downtown Tampa and Beer Can Island, before landing in the water, taking off again from the bay, and arriving at Albert Whited airport in St. Petersburg for lunch.
Before starting up the plane, Suzanne unhinged the side windows and stored them in their hanger at Peter O'Knight, to allow for a full immersive experience. The open windows had me feeling like we were flying a sports car in the sky. As we landed in the water, she drove the plane like a fiberglass boat, and water sprayed through the windows, demonstrating how a pilot could maneuver the plane to park at either a Marina or at a favorite beach destination.
The flight had me imagining all the cool places one could go on a spur of the moment trip for an afternoon, an overnight or for the weekend.
A lunch excursion would only take an hour to fly to Cedar Key. Or for a day trip, flying to Key West would only take 2.5 hours.
One of my favorite places, Amelia Island, which takes me close to 3.5 hours to drive across the state with traffic, would only take two hours flying in the ICON A5, floating in the glorious skies to either land at Fernandina Beach Airport or in the water, and be parked on the beach.
Suzanne likes to think this lightweight aircraft is designed with women in mind, as the plane is compact in size, holds twenty gallons of fuel, and can carry two passengers, fuel and baggage totaling 430 pounds.
With a full tank of gas, the plane can fly 400 nautical miles or about 4.5 hours of flying time. This allows for a perfect jaunt to the Bahamas for the weekend. At the Freeport customs office the plane can be refueled with AV gas, or at the Marina with premium auto or boat gas with 91 Octane or better.
The ICON provides the freedom to take off on an adventure whenever the desire hits and the flexibility to land at a private airstrip, boat marina or a favorite beach.
So, grab a girlfriend (or your significant other) and away you go!
To learn more or request a demonstration, visit ICONAircraft.com.