Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

Icon A5

That’s a new innovative mixture dial for Shorrick!

Mixture dial, I don’t need no stinkin’ mixture dial, I run it the old skool Gnome rotary way – ignition on / ignition off. Of course the plane only turns left but that’s how we always did it, so why change.

On a more serious note – see the position of the AoA indicator on the dashboard. The Icon training curriculum emphasizes use of the AoA rather than speed for landing.

I guess my Auster must be ahead of its time, we have an airspeed indicator that has zero at the bottom of the gauge, too :-)

Andreas IOM

So the looks is the innovation?

When the FAA adopted the LSA, all thought it would make a nicer entry into aviation. A couple of years later, it seemed more that it proved to be an exit for old people slowly losing their medicals and thus limited to LSA. So just being an LSA wouldn’t do much to enroll people into aviation, I guess. (Plus, the mentioned sport pilot license is even more expensive than a full PPL(A) in our Aero club, so money isn’t an issue, obviously).

The looks don’t speak to me, but then again I wouldn’t spend 250k on an LSA anyway. Seems to me, that their marketing is quite good among the non pilots.

The problems I see:
They already stretched the MTOM of the LSA rule, utilizing a safety argument, that doesn’t hold up a closer investigation. (Good for them, but an aircraft that can’t be spun is neither new, nor does it require more mass, as the ERCO Ercoupe proves very well…). My concern would be the limitation in future developments of the aircraft. It is natural for all aircraft to gain weight, the more the model gets changed. You see it with pretty much all Cessnas, the Beeches, Pipers, Mooneys… the newer model is always heavier. Designing at the legal certification limits does limit the possibilities of model improvement and utility, since every ounce more empty mass will reduce the payload. Unless, of course, they train the pilots to neglect Mass & Balance, as the German microlights do.

Then, if you do flight instruction in the A5, my guess is that you might produce a bunch of pilots who need differences training for somthing “dangerous” as a C150, but that is only a guess. The history of the Ercoupe and the Cirrus show, that a “safe” aircraft doesn’t impact the accident statistics quite as much, as claimed. You have to live a certain airmenship in order to fly safe, and that doesn’t change with the A5 (as it hasn’t changed with the Cirrus before, and with the Ercoupe before that). It’s an aircraft. Not a toy.

(BTW: The A5 cockpit is missing a compass and an inclinometer, although you could get around the latter with a woollen thread).

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

So the looks is the innovation?

Looks + parachute + marketing to non-anoraks = innovation

Anything less and you can forget it, in the U.S. piston GA market which is, ahem, the known universe

In Europe, diesel (DA40/42) can sell well too.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The parachute isn’t an innovation, it’s a consequence of Cirrus’ marketing.

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

That’s the type of toy a non aviator with money says “I want to have it”. Exactly what the market needs, the remaining old farts with their 1970s spamcams are not a great market. Cirrus opened a new market and this device can find its buyers, too.

It seems one can have something very similar for a 110k less. The Flywhale also has a ballistic parachute and the wings are removable. It’s a lot prettier than the A5 too. I have no idea what the panel looks like…

EHLE

Removeable <> Folding.

Would you spend half an afternoon bolting / unbolting wings (which you can’t realistically do alone) vs. 10 minutes folding / unfolding?

What does one do with an inclinometer?

@Peter re – innovation, for someone so focused on AoA you seem to ignore the Icon is the first GA plane to incorporate an AoA indicator as primary instrument and part of the curriculum… it’s not only about not wearing an anorak and white socks with Teva™ sandals.

Sign in to add your message

Back to Top