If there’s anyone in the aviation community who hasn’t heard about the Icon A5 S-LSA, she or he probably lives under a rock. The two-place, Rotax-powered amphib has been the subject of more breathless excitement in the non-aviation media than we can conveniently recall. In the aviation world, the level of coverage and the fact that Icon is assertively targeting its marketing to induce non-pilots to discover the excitement of flying has resulted in a level of outspoken opinions about the airplane and company that we haven’t seen since the hype and meltdown of Eclipse and the BD-5.
We were invited to find out for ourselves whether the “spin-resistant” A5 is just a remake of the “unstallable” Ercoupe and whether Icon’s goal of producing a highly safe, and exciting, sport plane can help increase the pilot population.