Flying in the Folding ICON A5 Airplane

[Tim] For decades we've been promised flying cars.

For decades we've been disappointed.

But it looks like we're getting close.

A new company called Icon is selling a little airplane

that's part flying car and part flying boat.

I got to try it out in New York City.

Alrighty,

Hey that's where I work, can I get out here?

[Tim] The Icon A5 is a light sports aircraft,

a newer type of weekend fun plane.

Icon is taking advantage of recent regulations in

aviation, which have opened up air space for

recreational flight.

In short, Icon has built what is as close as we've come

to an honest-to-goodness, on the market flying car.

Granted, it's a flying car that costs

around $200,000, but still.

The vision here is

long term is to democratize aviation.

That's been set in motion by the FAA's regulation change,

so the FAA recognized that the personal flying market

should be much more accessible.

[Tim] In 2004, the FAA created

the sport pilot license, which means you only need

20 hours of flight time to start flying

your very own sports aircraft.

I didn't have time to get a license,

but Icon took me up for a ride and

even let me steer a little.

Doing fine.

Got a barge up there.

Cool, should I try to wave at that barge?

(laughs)

[Tim] The flight and the controls were

surprisingly smooth.

At one point, the pilot stalled the plane to show off

the A5's spin-resistant design.

Rather than plummeting into a nose dive,

the plane just sort of floated in midair.

Small planes are nothing new,

but one of Icon's selling points is that the A5's wings

fold transformer-style for storage and transportation.

It's about eight feet tall with the wings folded.

So one thing we didn't get to see today is

this things folds up-

Right.

Right, I mean it's, depending on the size of your garage,

it's probably, the length of it is what like a-

23 feet.

short school bus, kind of length?

Or like a conversion van?

Think like a ski boat.

Okay, got it.

You tow a ski boat to the lake,

it's about that size when it's folded up.

Got it.

So unless you happen to have a huge garage,

it may be hard to store this craft at home.

And while it can run on easy to find high octane

automotive gas, it can only fly 300 miles on a tank.

But if you've got 200 grand to blow,

that sports license and the storage space,

you may be able to finally fulfill your dream of flying.