A small Cessna plane is a great thing to start your aviation career with, but that thing is almost ancient. Luckily enough, ICON Aircraft just officially unveiled the production version of their A5 concept we showed you earlier.
Wearing the ESN-1 serial number, the thing you see here is the first ICON A5 built from the production design. It took the company five months to build and it did its maiden flight on July 7th this year in Tehachapi, California. Two more will be built for tests in order to obtain and FAA approval before customer deliveries.
“This is one of the most significant milestones to date for ICON. It represents the culmination of years of research, design, engineering, and manufacturing dedication by an outstanding team,” said ICON Aircraft Founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins. “The A5 is no longer a prototype or concept aircraft; it’s a sophisticated, production-ready, consumer-focused aircraft. The entire ICON team is pouring its heart and soul into bringing the A5 to our customers, and it shows in the truly exceptional execution of the product. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The two-seater production model weighs only 1510 lb (686.4 kg) thanks to its carbon composite waterproof hull and the lightweight 100 bhp Rotax 912 iS gasoline engine.
In this configuration, the A5 can reach a top speed of 105 kts (120 mph / 194 km/h) and have a range of 300 nautical miles (345 mile/555 km). The wings can be folded, it can be fitted with an optional retracting landing gear and a huge parachute for increased safety.
The interior pretty much looks like what you get in a sportscar, minus the steering wheel and gear shifter, but the most interesting thing there is the angle of attack (AoA) meter which is not a common thing you see in lightweight aircrafts. The dial basically shows the wings’ position against the wind to prevent stalling the plane.
ICON said they will start deliver the first units to clients in May 2015 for an estimated price of $189,000, planning to build 500 of them per year.
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