It?s time to face facts: The flying car will probably never happen. But here is a carbon-fiber flying boat that is intended to be as easy and natural to operate as the family Camry, if about eleventy-billion times more fun. The Icon A5, which started as a napkin sketch more than 10 years ago by ex-F-16 fighter jock and company founder Kirk Hawkins, flushes airplane convention down the commode with its carlike dashboard, simple controls, and ultra-stable flying manners. If you ever wondered what it?d be like to fly out of a swimming pool in a Mazda Miata with wings, this is as close as you?ll ever get.
Granted, you have to be doing pretty well in life already to afford one. At its current price of $257,000 (less-expensive versions will come later, we?re told), the A5 is likely to be the umpteenth vehicle in your household(s), best suited to your isolated lakeside estate where it can serve as a joyous runabout or go-into-town vehicle. A fuel-injected Rotax 912 four-cylinder engine making 100 horsepower turns a three-blade fixed-pitch prop that pushes along the stupendously entertaining amphibious two-seater, which weighs a feathery 1080 pounds empty and has a maximum takeoff weight of 1510 pounds. It?ll cruise at around 98 mph for up to four hours on its 20-gallon tank (either 91 octane pump gas or aviation 100 low-lead). When the flying is done, the wings slide outward and fold back manually so the plane is easily put on a trailer. There may be no flying car coming, but the...