AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2016 - 42

PILOT BRIEFING
INDUSTRY NEWS

Icon update
Progress report on the A5
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

ICON AIRCRAFT has begun training pilots at its factory-authorized flight school in
Vacaville, California, and plans to expand to Florida in late 2016 and Texas in 2017.
During a wide-ranging interview at EAA AirVenture, company founder Kirk
Hawkins said the company has about 1,850 deposits for its amphibious, two-seat A5
Light Sport aircraft, and that number has held steady despite a recently announced
one-year production delay. "We've had some order cancellation conversations,"
Hawkins said. "We've also had an equal number of new people coming in."
Despite the delayed start of high-rate production, Icon plans to add about 20 aircraft to its training fleet in 2017. Customers with existing A5 orders will have first
access to flight training in them. Hawkins said the company and its financial backers are "100-percent focused on getting the A5 into production. They believe in the
mission," he said. "They understand the market. They're putting more money into
making sure we get there."
Hawkins said Icon realized several years ago that it had to develop flight training as one of the company's core competencies in order to instill the safety-oriented
culture it seeks to create among its pilots. Icon has designed its own curriculum in
which new flight students start on the water and then move to land-based airports
once they've mastered essential hand-flying and maneuvering skills.
Icon training programs range from four-hour A5 transition courses for current
seaplane pilots to 30 hours for student pilots seeking Sport Pilot certificates.
Icon also is looking to hire flight instructors who have experience flying at low
altitudes, over various terrain, and in coastal and mountainous areas where A5s are
likely to fly regularly. "We're looking for talented instructors who really love flying
and want to bring people in and inspire them," Hawkins said. "Our program will be
disciplined, structured, and standardized."
Although Icon has fallen far behind its initial production estimates, the company
is determined to become one of the world's largest single-engine piston aircraft producers. And it must have a ready supply of pilots trained and qualified to fly them.
"Our pilot factory must meet or exceed the production rate of our airplane factory,"
Hawkins said.
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

42 | AOPA PILOT October 2016

NEW MOONEY
INTERNATIONAL
CEO NAMED
VIVEK SAXENA, an aerospace executive who spent most of his career
at Pratt & Whitney, has been named
president and CEO of Mooney
International.
Saxena has been an aerospace
consultant since 2014. Before that,
he spent 16 years at Pratt & Whitney
in a variety of management roles.
He has a doctorate from Cambridge
University, a master's degree from
the University of Minnesota, and
graduated from the Indian Institute
of Technology.
He replaces Jerry Chen, who
brought the legendary aircraft manufacturer out of its self-imposed
"hibernation;" restarted M20 production in Kerrville, Texas; and
began FAA certification of a new
line of diesel-powered, composite
M10 aircraft in Chino, California.
"We now have the critical
components of success in place,"
Saxena said. "A compelling brand,
a world-class team, strong investor
commitment, and a new product
pipeline. These are amazing times
at Mooney, and I'm proud to say
there are even greater things to
come."
A Mooney spokesman described
the leadership change as a "planned
transition," and said Chen will stay
on as a special advisor.
Mooney is in the final stages of
certifying its Acclaim and Ovation
Ultra models, which include leftside doors and a keypad data entry
system for their G1000 avionics
suites. Flight testing of the first
M10 is underway at the company's
California research and development facility.
-Dave Hirschman

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2016