If you want your own airplane, you could do like my neighbor, Bruce, and build one yourself. Since I moved next to him last July, I’ve watched this thing develop from a bunch of sheet metal into the aircraft you see above. Bruce tells me he’s spent about two years, and upwards of $9,000, building this thing. It’s always been his dream to fly a plane that he built. If you don’t think you could trust any airplane you built to be safe, you could always buy an Icon A5 Light Sport Aircraft.
Icon Aircraft, founded in 2005, “is bringing flying to the masses with a sexy plane that breaks the mold on everything the industry has come to expect over the past 50 years.”
Since the FAA’s dramatic regulation changes in 2004 created the new Light Sport Aircraft category, ICON Aircraft’s sole purpose has been to bring the freedom, fun, and adventure of flying to all who have dreamed of flight. With these groundbreaking FAA rules solidified, ICON believes that consumer-focused sport aircraft can do for recreational flying what personal watercraft did for boating.
ICON’s sport aircraft are not only designed to deliver an amazing and safe flying experience, but also to inspire us the way great sports cars do. After years of development with some of the world’s best aerospace engineers and industrial designers, ICON Aircraft has released the first of its line of sport planes, the ICON A5. The A5 is a bold yet elegant design that communicates beauty, performance, safety, and most importantly… fun.
The A5 starts at $139,000, and if you order today you won’t take delivery of yours until 2015 at the earliest. Maybe you are better off taking your chances on a plane you build yourself. Of course it’s free to like Icon on Facebook.