Photos are for illustration purposes but the point remains.
What point exactly? that a brand new “hitec” LSA has lower spec than a 1930s design that is the most popular LSA today ?
BTW, this is what a typical RV-7 panel looks like today, no one builds them with steam gauges anymore:
I’m sure the A5 appeals to a certain type of people, and it certainly looks cool. But it has two problems:
How would you modernize the panel for instance? The panel also looks like a cross between a boat and a car with a hint of MC, not an aircraft.
I think it is cool though, but I think it is too “much” for the average pilot.
LeSving wrote:
I’m sure the A5 appeals to a certain type of people, and it certainly looks cool. But it has two problems:
For those “certain kind of people”, the “but” is not relevant, to the contrary. I think it is a great modern package. The price really doesn’t matter, there are a lot of people with a lot of money looking for fun toys. I have a friend who would sign a purchase contract before even asking whether some sort of license is needed to fly it. I am not going to tell him about the A5 
Interesting about the number ‘5’… 
This example ended up in the National Air and Space Museum. A lot of people got excited by the BD-5, 1972’s version of the ‘advanced’ GA, and I guess some of them are probably among the thousands of people climbing out at 2000 fpm and going 200 mph in the real world of RVs today. 1978’s version of the future of GA (the Vari-Eze) was more successful, and the prototype is also in the NASM. Its probably an endless cycle, the reality of low speed aerodynamics and market economics notwithstanding.
The point is that unlike the other piles of die-cut metal, the A5 actually looks like something that holds the comparison with other leisure vehicles worth 250k on the market. And believe it or not, that is what drives sales and volume.
And retracting gear = complex…. come on this is 2015.
The panel looks like a boat and a car yes. And it’s on purpose. What do you think a sports car driver or a boat driver will compare it to? Of course, you can use the 1960 gauges, or the 777-like flat panels… but neither are going to look familiar to potential new customers, which are THE main driver of GA future. The panel looks simple, familiar, easy to use and intuitive, allowing the user to focus on the main purpose of the object – which is not playing with switches and doing mag checks and listening for roughness when leaning. Brilliant.
It’s a beatiful aircraft even if I don’t like the panel layout. Yes, these would be very popular in Finland and Sweden if they were made to conform to the European certification standards and not be so expensive. Then again, Teslas sell very well, so…
I’m not a great proponent of ultralights and generally wouldn’t even consider getting one. But one must confess, I could see myself commuting to our summer home located on an island an hours Icon A5 flight away from Helsinki. But where would I put the beer? And what if the wind picks up while there – how rough waters can these handle?
The beer – it has cup holders ^^
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
The beer – it has cup holders ^^
In addition to your in-flight beers, you also need to stock the summer hut. For 2 adults and a week that would be 2*7*8 = 112 cans which could be a challenge.
Gotta love the curved takeoff run.
The image of the cockpit in the previous post was an early mockup. The finished thing looks like this, and I actually think it looks really ergonomic.
