ICON Aircraft

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ICON Aircraft
Type Private
Industry Aviation
Founded 2005
Founder(s) Kirk Hawkins
Steen Strand
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, USA
Key people Kirk Hawkins, CEO
Steen Strand, COO
Matthew Gionta, CTO
Products Aircraft
Employees 25+
Website www.iconaircraft.com

ICON Aircraft is a privately held American aircraft design and production company.[1] It is currently focusing on the refinement and development of the ICON A5, an amphibious light sport aircraft[2] that was scheduled to begin production in late 2012.[3] However, the master tooling for fuselage and wings, required for serial production, was not acquired until late 2013.

History and Financing

ICON Aircraft was founded in response to the 2004 Federal Aviation Administration establishment of the light-sport aircraft (LSA) class of aircraft and Sport Pilot certificate class of pilot.[4] The company was founded in 2005 by Kirk Hawkins and Steen Strand.[5] Hawkins had previously flown F-16s in the United States Air Force and Boeing 757s for American Airlines. Strand's background is in product design, marketing, and finance, and he founded Freebord, a skateboard company.[6] The two met at Stanford University in a Product Design class in 1993.[7]

A proof of concept aircraft was built in 2007-2008, and made its first flight in July 2008. The company publicly launched the A5 in Los Angeles at a private event on 11 June 2008.[8] ICON has also acknowledged the possibility of releasing additional models in the future, but maintains that it will focus on the light-sport aircraft market.[9]

ICON Aircraft has completed three rounds of equity financing. It completed its A round in June 2006 and its B round in July 2008.[10] A $25 million C round was closed in June 2011.[3]

Strategy and Positioning

ICON Aircraft positions the A5 with a recreational focus, claiming that ICON competes with powersports vehicles such as ATVs, motorcycles, watercraft, and snowmobiles, rather than other airplanes. ICON CEO Kirk Hawkins said “it’s not about the usual metrics of speed, range, payload, altitude, and complex cockpits. It’s about getting you out there and interacting with your world.” [7] ICON’s media debut in Wired (magazine) and coverage in mainstream media shows significant interest from outside the aviation community, and ICON has reported that 35% of its customers are not pilots.[10]

Products

ICON Aircraft's first model is the ICON A5, an amphibious 2-seat, light-sport aircraft to be priced at approximately USD $139,000. Its folding wings facilitate transportation and storage, and it will have a range of approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km) and a top speed of 105 knots (120 mph).[11]

The company has assigned nearly 700 positions as of August 2011, and anticipated that production would begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.[12] As of late 2013, production has not yet begun.

Facilities

ICON Aircraft's headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California. It also has an engineering facility in Tehachapi, California, where the design, building, testing, and manufacturing processes are occurring.[13] ICON has said that production will start in Tehachapi, California but will move elsewhere in the future.[14]

Directors and Advisors

Directors

Advisors

References

  1. ↑ "Guest Speaker: Bringing The "Sport" Back To Flying (Kirk Hawkins)". Plane & Pilot Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
  2. ↑ Pasztor, Andy (2008-06-12). "Start-Up Wants A New Audience To Take to the Air". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Icon Aircraft secures $25 million investment". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  4. ↑ "The Ultimate Flying Machine: Sexy as a Sports Car, Portable as a Jet Ski". Wired. 2008-12-22. , Wired Magazine.
  5. ↑ "Just Plane Fun". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
  6. ↑ "Freebord Design Process". Freebord Manufacturing. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Being ICONic". EAA Sport Aviation Magazine. Retrieved 2011-11-10. 
  8. ↑ "ICON Aircraft Launches New Amphibious Sport Plane". Aero News Network. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  9. ↑ "ICON company FAQs". ICON Aircraft. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Starting a Revolution". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Retrieved 2011-11-08. 
  11. ↑ AOPA Pilot: "Starting a Revolution". August 2009. Retrieved on 2009-11-17.
  12. ↑ "ICON Aircraft News". ICON Aircraft. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
  13. ↑ "Soaring Sales for Sport Plane". Tehachapi News. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
  14. ↑ "Backstage With A Rock Star". Plane & Pilot. Retrieved 2009-11-17. 

External links

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