Indepth Look at the Icon A5 and How the Company Has Retooled to Survive

The closest I'll ever get to an IconA5 flight is in MSFS2020 .. Unfortunately their modeling doesn't seem too accurate. The stall characteristics of the real thing is much more forgiving. First time I stalled in MSFS, my right wing dropped like a brick. It's a very fun aircraft for virtual sightseeing though - amazing views ;)

No aircraft is going to sell, however good looking, with such a pathetic performance, range and weight restriction, and that's before discussing the ludicrous NDA infested contract, the mismanagement and over-confidence of those in charge of manufacturing and top down suits who imagined that deposits would stay secured against an eye watering price inflation.

ah, $139,000 to $389,000 - that WOULD indeed make the deposit holder list look 'substantially different'- sure would.

I like certain aspects of this plane and understand the training to limit liability but the company feels a bit like Christian Scientology recruitment office in the control levels. It's a posh microlight for rich folks.

I'm not all that savvy about the A5, but I'll watch anything Paul Bertorelli produces.

In the 1970s/1980s I had the privilege of traveling in "flying boats" from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to the neighboring islands. The Pilots enjoyed flying over the sunbathing Cruise Ship passengers and dousing them with castoff water from ocean takeoffs. Good clean fun!...

All these things are way to expensive for me to even dream of having.

I see prison tattoos or gang tattoos, I'm walking out.
Who are the biggest liars in the world, politicians, and salespeople?

Appearence is everything.
If the sales person looks like crap, Im walking out.
If the trainer looks like crap, I'm walking out.
Preception is everything.

This plane don’t forgive. Very dangerous as it does not has any space for mistake

I think this aircraft is so cool!!!!! But $330,000.00??? I didn't see that coming. It's the ultra rich version of a jet ski !

Typical sales response, left out the cost of 4 day water training.

As a bigger man I wish the useful load was a little more. Most of my friends and family are at the 200lbs mark

This company is toast.

OK, 2 years later. I fell in love with the A5 when it was first announced. Bought an R/C version and flew it and everything. Had this great dream about getting an Icon and starting an Ecotour/aerial video kind of tourist thing.

I will shortly be in a situation where the $139k would be easily doable for me. The tripling of the price has guaranteed my LSA Amphib, sadly, will not be the Icon.
The Super Petrel is looking the most likely now.

The Icon is basically just a toy with no real utility. Even if you're a millionaire 398K takes a huge bite out of your net worth. I restored a Kingfisher amphibian (flying boat). I had a total of 25K into it.

way too expensive

oh, sure, train to fly a seaplane. should take only a week's work, right?

fatal crash in calif was clearly pilot error

Paul - thanks for the gratuitous butt shot. I think you've got better chances of increasing viewership with your Cub and animations.

This was the best Icon A5 video I have seen & I have seen about 25 or so .Do you if there was any fallout as far A5's landing on Berryessa or where on the lake they now can land? I would imagine they want to keep planes out of the cove area now. I wish the price was still $139,000 instead of what it a swelled too but I know supply & demand. Great job with all the information on this video. Thank you.

380,000 for an airplane that has no useful load, is slow, and has a poor range? It is only the dumb type of rich people who’d go for that. I’ve watched them climb out at a climb rate that looks nearly as poor as a Piper cub lol.

Plane is to expensive thats what’s bad about it. They need to find a way to sell it to the normal earning people aswell.

Open air cockpit?

Their gross carrying capacity sucks.

problem is on the west coast lakes are disapearing or gone and the fire smoke chokes you and visibility is zero and on the east coast theres flooding and storms with wild winds

I remember all the hoopla about this aircraft when it first came along, not least the price. Then it started going up - and up - and up. At nearly $400,000 it's certainly way beyond the 'everyman' concept they originally pitched it to, and when it boils down to it, you can buy a hell of a decent GA plane for that kind of money, versus a little two-seat amphibian with a range of 300 miles that was originally supposed to have a DIY build concept involved.

And did I miss something in the bit about training flights? They said six flights? When I learned to fly gliders back in Australia years ago there was no way in hell I would have been considered near ready after only half a dozen training flights - and my very experienced instructor considered me one of the most natural pilots he'd trained. I know these things are sold under the 'as easy as driving a car' concept, but I'd like to think there's more involved in the training. I was skimming a little bit through the clip, so maybe I missed something.

Perhaps Icon could add an audible warning to pilots to check wheels down status at a set height, this could avoid plane to submarine transition.

Way overpriced .. so many quality planes ( searey , super petrel ) at less than half the cost .. Icon will not survive unless they figure out how to put together a better assembly process . It’s a shame because the ICON is the first choice before cost is revealed . Hire someone who knows assembly line process

this is one of the aircraft which are my dreams to have

Excellent review. I play flight sim 2020 and this is always my go to plane. Guess when I win the lotto I’ll bead on down for an a5 and some training 😁

Desgining the cockpit interior like an automobile dashboard was the first and last red flag for me.

Saying with orders of 250 units a year we don’t need any cash means our brake even point is $97.25 millions a year. At the old price of $150k a piece the company need to sell 648 units a year to break even. As of today $400 k is a lot of money to buy an LSA seaplane that has a payload of 430 lbs and has a Rotax 912 that takes 2 persons at 100 miles per hour with fuel tank size of 20 gallons.

Wow what a price tag.

Great video as always. Thank you Paul.

I have to say I'm pretty amazed - that anyone thought this vehicle could be sold at $150k. That's half the price of a 911 Turbo - and this thing needs float, navigate, communicate, fold up, stow gear, and requires hours of training, none of which the 911 requires with ten times the production volume. What was this, a kickstarter? As much as I'd love to see this ship for much, much less than half a million, that "reality check" was definitely overdue.

Hearing that Icon has a training facility in Vacaville, CA brought this to mind: While rowing on Lake Berryessa the other day, I saw what I am sure was an Icon coming and going. I was too far East on the Putah Creek Arm to observe the area where the float planes usually operate.

High quality content. Subscribed.

Gear down water landing? Heard of a landing checklist?

Awesome video

All due respect to the Young lady flight instructor..... But please restrain your long hair...
It should never be a subject of distraction to her hands.... And always restrained securely.

I think this aircraft is beautiful, too bad it only has two seats👏👏👏👏👏🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👏👏👏

HA HA!!! Ive never seen on intact before. THis is great.

Indepth is not a word.

i can buy a cessna 185 with floats and the 550 conversion for cheaper than this overpriced overhyped toy..

I can get two nice paintings , and a Cheesburger for the price of this plane.

Anyone water ski with an Icon? ;)
If I were rich, I’d use it to Ski, Fish, the whole 9 yards.