ICON Aircraft A5
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The ICON A5 is an amphibious light sport aircraft with folding wings, a carbon fibre hull, a Rotax pusher engine mounted above the cabin and a spin-resistant airframe. It was designed to be sold to people who do not yet fly, trailered home behind a car and operated from lakes, and it looks unlike any other certified aeroplane.
It is a recreational machine rather than transport: 85 knots, two seats, 430 lb of useful load, and a 20-gallon tank. The company's history has been turbulent, with repeated delays, a bankruptcy and restructuring, and two fatal accidents in 2017 that drew heavy scrutiny, including one that killed ICON's chief engineer and another that killed a well-known passenger. Support and parts depend on a small manufacturer with an unsettled corporate position, which is the central ownership risk. Water operations require a seaplane rating.
Variants of the ICON A5
- A5 · 2015 · 201 active · this page
Also consider
- Piper PA-18S-135No overall score · 2 seats · 84 kt
- Interstate Aircraft S-1A-90FNo overall score · 2 seats · 83 kt
- Funk Aircraft BNo overall score · 2 seats · 85 kt
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Rotax 912iS Sport |
| Horsepower | 100 hp |
| Fuel | mogas-approved |
| Certification basis | LSA |
| Production start | 2015 |
| Production end | current |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 85 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 427 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 640 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 39 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 430 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 310 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,510 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,080 lb |
| Usable fuel | 20 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5.6 gal/h |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a complex or high-performance single.
| Fuel (burn × price) | hourly | $41/h | $4,150/yr |
| Engine reserve (overhaul ÷ TBO) | hourly | $1,250/yr | |
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | not counted | |
| Insurance | fixed | $3,500/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $3,000/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
Not in the totals: Maintenance reserve, Rental rate (for rent vs own). We have no reliable default for these lines; enter your figure to include them.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $199,500 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $375,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $20,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $30,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 225 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 201 |
| Median year built | 2019.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 12 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 59.71 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 39.82 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 51 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 25.373 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 201 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 201 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 201 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 3.4 of 101 |
| Severity | 2.2 of 102 |
| Access | 2.7 of 103 |
| Support | 8.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 24.4 out of 506 |
These record scores treat ICON Aircraft A5 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes the record of aircraft once registered under ICON Aircraft. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 31.56 · 197 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,000.75.
- Support: class median 89.
- Liquidity: class median 19.74.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30