Story ID: 
Icon Aircraft Delivers 100th A5
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Icon Aircraft's production rates are accelerating as the 100th A5 is delivered.
Word Count: 274
Icon Aircraft’s 100th A5 amphibious light sport aircraft recently left its Vacaville, California production facility for delivery to the buyer in Key West, Florida. The company achieved the milestone after ramping up production beginning in early 2018. 

The A5’s spin-resistant design is unique in the light aircraft industry, the “world’s first production aircraft” so designed, according to Icon. Powered by a fuel-injected Rotax 912 iS Sport, the A5 can fly 427 nm with a 45-minute reserve, carry a useful load of up to 550 pounds, and offers a maximum cruise speed of 95 knots. Other safety features include an angle-of-attack indicator and ballistic airframe parachute system. The folding wings allow for compact storage or transport on an optional trailer. The A5’s side windows are removable.

The buyer of the 100th A5 is a private pilot who has been licensed for more than 10 years. “I’ve been following the Icon A5 for years,” he said, “and I was hooked as soon as I took my first flight. There’s no other airplane like it. It doesn’t matter what you’ve flown. I can’t wait to fly with my family and soak in the beauty of this world with the windows out.” 

Composite airframe components are manufactured at Icon’s facility in Tijuana, Mexico, then shipped to Vacaville for final assembly. Production ramp-up took "longer than anticipated to get here, but this is just the beginning," said Icon president and COO Thomas Wieners. “The best reward is seeing owners flying their planes and having their own adventures across the country, and then connecting with our growing community.”