Overview

The ICON A5 is a two-seat amphibious Light-Sport Aircraft built by ICON Aircraft of Vacaville, California, and first flown in 2008. It was conceived for a buyer general aviation usually misses: the recreational pilot who wants to fly off water on a sport-pilot certificate, in an airplane styled and equipped like a consumer product. The program has since changed hands – ICON filed Chapter 11 in April 2024, and SG Investment America (the US arm of Germany’s Dürkopp Adler, owned by China’s ShangGong Group) bought its assets that June, with low-volume production continuing under the new owner.

Two things define how the A5 flies. An angle-of-attack indicator anchors the cockpit, backed by an FAA-approved spin-resistance demonstration and a standard ballistic parachute – a safety package aimed at the pilot who would not otherwise consider seaplane flying. Sport-pilot access is the other half of the pitch: under the 2025 MOSAIC rule the A5 sits inside the sport-pilot envelope on its own 45-knot stall, and its original 2013 weight exemption is now legacy context. It suits the recreational or safety-minded owner who wants a weekend-lake airplane, and it asks that buyer to accept a two-seat, day-VFR envelope and the continuity questions that come with a single-model company freshly out of bankruptcy.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Amphibious operation in a sport-pilot airframe. Land or water, paved or grass, with the retractable sponson gear handling the transition. Few certified amphibians sit at the LSA price and pilot-qualification floor.
• Folding wings and trailerability. Wings fold at the root in a few minutes, allowing the airframe to be towed home and stored in a standard garage or transported to launch sites without ferry-flying to a seaplane base.
• Spin-resistant airframe with standard parachute. FAA-approved spin-resistance demonstration plus a standard ballistic recovery system bias the A5 toward the safety-anxious recreational buyer who would not otherwise consider seaplane flying.
• Rotax 912 iS Sport fuel flexibility. The fuel-injected 912 iS Sport accepts 91-octane unleaded auto fuel as well as 100LL avgas, which lowers fuel cost at operating sites where mogas is reachable.
• Glass cockpit with integrated AOA. Garmin G3X-class panel paired with a primary AOA indicator on the glareshield – the airframe is designed to be flown by reference to AOA, not airspeed alone.

Trade-offs

• Two-seat, day-VFR sport-aircraft envelope. S-LSA category limits the A5 to two seats, day VFR, and sport-pilot operating privileges. No IFR, no night, no third seat. Buyers needing any of those should look outside the LSA class.
• Price-to-utility ratio. New A5s list well above $300,000 as configured – comparable money to a four-seat certified single. The A5 is bought for what it does (amphibious recreational flying), not for transport-economy.
• 428 nm range, 81 KTAS cruise. The mission is local and recreational. Cross-country economics do not favour the A5 against a fixed-gear four-seater at the same hourly cost.
• Service ceiling 13,000 ft. Adequate for terrain avoidance in most US contexts, but mountain-west operators should check density-altitude performance carefully.
• Orphaned-OEM and continuity diligence. The 2024 Chapter 11 impaired pre-bankruptcy factory warranties, customer deposits, and delivery-position agreements, and the reconstituted company sits under a foreign parent whose long-term aviation commitment was not stated in the court record. Production continues, but at low single-model volume under new ownership. Confirm current parts, service, and warranty terms directly with the company; do not rely on pre-2024 factory promises.
• Specialised maintenance and parts pipeline. Rotax-trained service is geographically uneven outside seaplane hubs; the composite amphibious hull is not a job for every airframe shop.

See Also

• Super Petrel LS – a direct amphibious-LSA rival: a Brazilian biplane flying boat at a fraction of the A5’s price. Compare
• Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey – the other budget amphibious-LSA rival, a widely built parasol-wing flying boat sold factory-built or as a kit. Compare
• Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer – the certified four-seat amphibian step-up: more seats and range at higher cost and pilot qualification. Compare
• Cessna 162 Skycatcher – Cessna’s two-seat LSA, the land-based class-economics reference without the amphibious mission. Compare