A New Zealand company has flown a new amphibious aircraft that will likely benefit from the new MOSAIC rules when they come into force. The Vickers WAVE uses the Rotax 916 engine with a constant speed prop to power what looks like a bulked-up ICON A5 and has numbers to match. The company says the WAVE will cruise at 120 knots, climb at 1100 feet per minute and has 750 pounds of useful load in an all-up weight of 1850 pounds. Range is projected at 1,100 nm. It also features powered folding wings that can be used while on the water. It also has water thrusters in the hull.
“We have been building the WAVE for 13 years, have a full production facility and will begin deliveries next year,” said owner Paul Vickers. He said U.S. investors have 60 percent of the company and there are plans to build the plane in the U.S.
Going to be interesting to see the wave of innovation MOSAIC unleashes. It’s the type of innovation hoped for with LSA’s that never really materialized.
Maybe you mean innovation that will be allowed to be imported into the US. This airplane has been built for 13 years in NZ. European aircraft manufacturers have outpaced efficiency and design without the FAA constraints.
There’s one of them, to my knowledge. It has been in development for 13 years.
Looks like a PBY from the rear 🙂
The aviation historian in me is delighted to see the name Vickers once again associated with seaplanes.
Looks cool. Bet it’ll cost $300,000+!
A very big +.
Less than $300k! The Wave nailed every point with this aircraft!
And Icon also had low prices published before they had to manufacture in volume. I can’t see how you can build a carbon hull amphibian like ICON A5 and throw in a 916, automatic folding wings (on the water!) constant speed prop, and water thrusters for less than what Icon sells the A5 for.
New Zealand manufacturer Vickers Aircraft has conducted the first flight off water of its Wave amphibious LSA.
The Wave LSA is a Rotax-powered amphibian to be certified in the LSA category with an FAA exemption permitting an MTOW of 839 kg. It has been in development in NZ for 13 years.
Vickers announced in March that they expected the first water flight to occur in April, but in line with the company’s ethos of not setting target dates to allow development to proceed at a safe rate, the first flight off water didn’t happen until last week.
The first water flight was made with an NZ CAA test pilot at the controls.
The Rotax 915 iS fitted to the Wave promises a 15,000-foot ceiling, 1400 fpm rate-of-climb, 120 KTAS max speed and an eight-hour endurance from the 189 litre tanks.
Vickers Aircraft says that the production facilities in Hamilton, NZ, are complete and the company has released early production slot for the aircraft.
Vickers conducts First Wave Flight from Water
7 August 2023.
Each person’s budget is different but consider this, “Our sale price in the USA will be less than US$180,000 including the 180 horsepower engine (Rotax 916s), powered folding wings, and airframe parachute.” In addition, fuel burn is half that of a Cessna 172 even though Wave will fly faster.
That $180,000 price seems to be quite reasonable compared to what else is in that class. The last time I checked the price of the ICON amphib, for example, it was somewhat north of $300,000 for a fairly well-equipped model.
Folding wings? 15,000′ ceiling? 120kt speed? 1400 fpm rate-of-climb? 1,100 nm range? Less than $180,000?
Did Jim Bede have a son living in New Zealand?
LOL
As soon as the company sells a couple thousand of them, the control freaks, Karen’s, and NIMBY’s will start passing laws to keep them from operating most places anyone would want to operate.