ICON Aircraft

ICON Aircraft
Private
Industry Aviation
Founded 2006[1]
Founders Kirk Hawkins
Steen Strand
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, USA
Key people
 Kirk Hawkins, CEO
Steen Strand, COO
Matthew Gionta, CTO and VP of Engineering
Chris King, CFO
Products Aircraft
Number of employees
 75+
Website www.iconaircraft.com

ICON Aircraft is a privately held American aircraft design and production company.[2] It is currently working on the production of the ICON A5, an amphibious light sport aircraft[3] that is scheduled to begin customer deliveries in May 2015.[4]

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.[5][6][7] Kirk Hawkins and Steen Strand founded the company in 2006.[1] Hawkins had previously flown F-16s[6] 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.[8] The two met at Stanford University in a Product Design class in 1993.[9]

A proof of concept aircraft was built in 2007-2008, and made its first flight in July 2008.[6] The company publicly launched the A5 in Los Angeles at a private event on June 11, 2008.[10] 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.[11]

From 2008 to 2014, the proof of concept aircraft flew more than 700 development flights, and the construction of the first production aircraft began in early 2014.[12] It made its first flight in July 2014 and the company has announced that the first customer deliveries are expected in May 2015.[4]

ICON Aircraft has completed four rounds of equity financing. It completed its A round in June 2006 and its B round in July 2008. A $25 million C round was closed in June 2011[3] and a $60 million D round was announced in June 2013.[13]

Strategy and positioning

ICON Aircraft positions the A5 with a recreational focus, stating that the aircraft 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.”[9] ICON’s media debut in Wired and coverage in mainstream media shows significant interest from outside the aviation community,[7][14] and ICON has reported that 35% of its customers are not pilots.[15]

Products

ICON Aircraft's first model is the ICON A5, an amphibious two-seat, light-sport aircraft to be priced at approximately $189,000. Its folding wings facilitate transportation and storage,[7] and it will have a range of approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km) and a top speed of 105 knots (120 mph).[15]

The company has assigned nearly 1400 production positions as of August 2014[16] and anticipates the first customer delivery will occur in May 2015.

On July 28, 2014, ICON Aircraft unveiled the first production ICON A5 built with production tooling and using production methods and components. This aircraft successfully completed its first flight July 7, 2014.[17]

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 occur.[18] ICON spokespeople have said said that production will start in Tehachapi, California but will move elsewhere in the future.[19]

On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Cirrus Aircraft would become one of the key strategic supplier partners for the ICON A5 amphibious light sport aircraft. The companies agreed that Cirrus, the manufacturer of the leading SR20 and SR22 lines of high-performance single-engine aircraft, will produce a significant portion of the composite airframe components for ICON Aircraft in their Grand Forks, North Dakota, facility.[20]

On May 14, 2014, ICON announced they would consolidate all company functions, including manufacturing, sales, training, service, and corporate headquarters in a new 140,000-square-foot facility in Vacaville, California beginning in early 2015.[21]

Directors and advisors

Directors

Advisors

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maas, John (June 2009). "Just Plane Fun". Stanford University Alumni Association. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Guest Speaker: Bringing The "Sport" Back To Flying (Kirk Hawkins)". Plane & Pilot Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
  3. ↑ Pasztor, Andy (2008-06-12). "Start-Up Wants A New Audience To Take to the Air". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Haines, Thomas B. (28 July 2014). "First production Icon A5 makes a splash at AirVenture". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Ultimate Flying Machine: Sexy as a Sports Car, Portable as a Jet Ski". Wired. 22 December 2008.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Pae, Peter (28 July 2008). "Built for just plane fun". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pappalardo, Joe (11 June 2008). "ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar, Costs as Much as Maserati". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Steen’s new project – Icon Aircraft". Freebord. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Being ICONic". EAA Sport Aviation Magazine. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
  10. ↑ "ICON Aircraft Launches New Amphibious Sport Plane". Aero News Network. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  11. ↑ "ICON Aircraft: The Company". ICON Aircraft. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "ICON Aircraft Constructs and Flies First Production A5". ICON Aircraft. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  13. ↑ Moore, Jim (20 June 2013). "Icon raises $60 million to produce A5". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Discovery Channel". ICON Aircraft. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Hirschman, Dave (August 2009). "Starting a Revolution". AOPA Pilot. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "TenCate supplies composites to ICON Aircraft A5 Amphibious Sport Aircraft". TenCate. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "ICON Constructs and Flies First Production A5". ICON Aircraft. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Soaring Sales for Sport Plane". Tehachapi News. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  19. ↑ "Backstage With A Rock Star". Plane & Pilot. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  20. ↑ "Cirrus Aircraft News - ICON Aircraft and Cirrus Aircraft to Partner on the Production of the ICON A5 Amphibious Sport Plane". Cirrusaircraft.com. 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  21. ↑ "ICON to relocate to Vacaville". General Aviation News. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

External links