Icon Brings First Production Prototype To Oshkosh

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image: Icon

Icon flew its first production prototype of the A5 amphibian, ESN-1, for the first time on July 5, and this week, the company brought the airplane to EAA AirVenture. ESN-1 is one of three copies that will be used for flight testing, with the goal of attaining LSA approval for the design by May 2015. The company recently acquired a factoryin Vacaville, California, and said this week the site will be ready to start full-scale manufacturing early next year. The facility will be capable of producing more than 500 aircraft a year, the company said. Icon officials have said they already have more than 1,000 deposits.

ESN-1 was built at Icon’s facility in Tehachapi, California. “ESN-1 performed very well on its first flight,” said Icon test pilot and lead engineer Jon Karkow, who was at the controls for the flight. “Its flight characteristics are similar to the proof-of-concept aircraft, which logged over 700 flights, with the same responsive character and control harmony. The hard work of the engineering and production teams is very clear.” This week at Oshkosh, Icon is auctioning off an early production position, which is scheduled for delivery in early 2016.

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