ICON A5 plane sparking renewed interest in recreational flying
From up in the air, the landscape around the Historic Triangle is a vast swathe of greens and blues, dotted with houses and trees and intersected by the James River. Some call this bird’s eye view the best there is, but few people get a chance to take an extended look.
Now, one California-based company is trying to change that.
During a recent stop at the Williamsburg Jamestown Airport, ICON Aircraft representatives, including CEO Jerry Meyer, demonstrated how the ICON A5 amphibious aircraft is designed with just about everybody in mind.
The planes are lightweight, with user-friendly controls meant to embody the feeling of driving a car, and are easily transportable. They can take off — and land — just about anywhere, making them ideal for recreational use.
In a recent flight demonstration over the Williamsburg area, pilots demonstrated the plane’s adaptability, making stomach-churning dips and turns before landing on the crystalline James River. The plane functions much like a jet ski on water, twisting and turning over the water and then taking off again with equal ease. On a clear day, the landscape stretches out vast and green, with well-known landmarks such as Jamestown Settlement and its trio of recreated ships made minuscule from up in the air.
The goal is to recapture the “freedom you feel as a young person when you think about flying,” Meyer said. Thanks in part to outdated small airplanes, personal aviation has lost some of its appeal in the past several years, he added, but ICON wants to help make it cool again.
ICON describes the A5 aircraft as “a technological marvel” and “one of the safest small airplanes ever built, with a carbon fiber airframe, full airplane parachute, spin-resistant technology and a cockpit that’s more like a sports car than a typical airplane. It also features folding wings, which means it can be put on a trailer and towed behind an SUV.”
The A5 aircraft is a tool to help “educate and inspire” the next generation of aviators, said John Campbell, the director of communications and education for the Virginia Department of Aviation.
The Department of Aviation purchased an A5 in 2019 and now bring it to schools around the state for kids to get an up-close look and hopefully get inspired to pursue aviation.
Thousands of kids around Virginia have gotten a chance to check out the A5 and see the controls from inside the cockpit, according to Campbell.
“It’s been a really great tool,” he said.
The A5 Introduction to Flight program is one of several education programs that the state aviation department uses to try and spark interest in flying among students.
Among those programs are the yearly Aviation Art Contest, which is open to ages 6-17, and the Virginia Aviation Photography Contest. The department also awards grants of up to $500 to teachers who teach a lesson involving aviation and a scholarship to a Virginia high school senior planning an aviation career.
The company started producing the planes in 2017. Now, there are 160 people who own one of their own, ranging in age from 23-81. According to Paul Nyhart, ICON Aircraft’s director of marketing, about 25% of the current owners were not pilots prior to purchasing their A5.
To fly an A5, one must have a sport pilot license, which allows pilots to operate light-sport aircraft, and take a training course, which involves ground lessons and several training flights. The company also has YouTube tutorials available to help answer user questions.
This year, the company will go international, expanding to more countries.
Training options are already available around the U.S., including in the Williamsburg area. Bruce Holmes, an A5 instructor pilot who owns his own A5, offers training, mentor flights and more. Instructor pilots such Holmes are certified flight instructors who have completed the A5 instructor course, according to ICON.
For more information on training sessions, visit iconaircraft.com/flight-training.
Sian Wilkerson, 757-342-6616, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com
