Icon Nixes Flaps, Names Manufacturing Partners

Icon Aircraft has announced that structural composite assemblies for the folding-wing amphib LSA will be provided by Liberty Aerospace of Melbourne, Fla., and Flytech, a Hungarian company. Icon plans to outsource the major composite work then assemble the airplanes and install all the systems at their facilities in southern California. The company also announced some significant design changes.

Icon Aircraft has announced that structural composite assemblies for the folding-wing amphib LSA will be provided by Liberty Aerospace of Melbourne, Fla., and Flytech, a Hungarian company. Icon plans to outsource the major composite work then assemble the airplanes and install all the systems at their facilities in southern California. The company also announced some significant design changes.

Icon says the changes will improve flight safety and enhance the user experience of the A5. Wing cuffs will be added, to contribute to a spin-resistant design. And flaps will be eliminated to simplify pilot operations. "This is yet another example of Icon raising the bar to not only make the A5 one of the coolest sport planes on the planet -- but to make it simultaneously one of the safest and easiest to fly," said Kirk Hawkins, Icon CEO. Matthew Gionta, the company's VP of engineering, said that since LSA regulations require a maximum zero-flap stall speed of 45 knots, the flaps offer marginal benefit while adding complexity.