ICON Aircraft’s A5 has completed its 100th test flight. ICON’s engineering team continues to methodically advance toward finalizing the outer mold lines of the A5 for production. Their commitment to reaching the highest standards for handling qualities in the A5 is resulting in an airplane that is fun to fly in all flight regimes, including the slowest end of the envelope. Recently, stall testing commenced to evaluate and refine low-speed handling characteristics. Initial testing has proven the stall speed to be as predicted: 43 knots – exceeding ASTM standards. Further refinement of the stall characteristics will be completed this spring to give the A5 stall characteristics that are benign and easy to fly.Watch the latest video from stall testing: Stall Testing Video
The A5 also recently completed test flights in the ocean to assess salt water operations and landing in swells. The aircraft was flown from the Mojave Desert to Long Beach, where it flew for several days. As part of the testing at Long Beach, the A5 was regularly taxied in and out of the water on an unusually steep and narrow boat ramp with relative ease.
