23 Aug 14 - Moving water rudder fitted. 23 Aug 14 - Moving water rudder fitted.
| N° of launches / Time | Wheeled | 3 | 0 hrs 25 mins |
| Floats | 4 | 0 hrs 28 mins | |
| Wingspan | 52.5 in. | 1330 mm | |
| Wing Area | 323 sq. in. | 20.8 dmē | |
| Flying Weight | 2 lb. 13 oz. | 1277 g | |
| Wing Loading | 20.1 oz / sq. ft | 61.3 g/dmē | |
| Wing Cube Loading | 13.4 - Scale | ||
| Motors | Pre-installed 480 brushless motor, 960 Kv | ||
| Propellers | Supplied 3-blade 9" x 8" electric | ||
| Speed Controller | Pre-installed 30A brushless ESC | ||
| Motor Batteries | 3S Turnigy Nano-Tech LiPo 2200 cells | ||
| Receiver | Spektrum AR600 - 6ch - 2.4GHz | ||
| Servos | Ailerons | 2 x Parkzone DSV130 Digital Servo (coated) 12g | |
| Elevator | Parkzone DSV130 Digital Servo (coated) 12g | ||
| Rudder | Parkzone DSV130 Digital Servo (coated) 12g | ||
| Nosewheel | Linked to Rudder servo when fitted | ||
| Landing Lights | 2 x extreme brightness 5mm White LEDs in parallel with a series 27R resistor running from the RX supply, controlled by a Turnigy Radio Controlled Switch | ||
| Static motor parameters | 3S 2200mAh Turnigy Nano-Tech LiPo cells give 7990 RPM @ 11.27V drawing of 21.1A (237W), which is 84W/lb. | ||
| Flight performance | Not yet flown | ||
23 Aug 14 - A little while ago I bought a 3D printer and the some rubber-like filament called NinjaFlex. I thought that the first useful application would be a moving water rudder for the Icon A5, which is a direct replacement for the original fixed black plastic blade. The intention is to improve the Icon A5 even further by increasing the ability to steer on the water; sometimes it struggled with cross-winds. The new rudder was printed using NinjaFlex as an integral hinge within a PLA (Polylactic acid) blade and mounting. The 5th image shows the final design with the added control horn, the hinge is coloured red for clarity. The 6th image shows the original prototype (no control horn), the 2nd prototype (in white) and the final version. The next photo shows a close-up of the 2nd prototype in which the black NinjaFlex can be clearly seen in the centre of the white blade and mount. The 8th & 9th images show the rudder after fitting and making the linkage on the Icon A5 (centred and full right). Due to the length of the control horn on the water rudder the movement of the rudder control rod servo had to be reduced; this was easily achieved by moving the rod in to the inner hole of the servo arm, and the clevis in a couple of holes on the rudder horn. The nosewheel steering (when fitted) will now connect on the outside of the rudder push rod. I haven't reweighed the Icon A5 as the weight change is very minimal
10 Jun 13 - Somehow the Icon managed to flip over taxiing back today; it was a little breezy but should not have been excessive. The sequence of events was the downwind tip (starboard) entered the water and started to dive down a little; this caused the starboard portion of the nose to submerge and she then rapidly flipped over due to the high thrust-line and huge drag caused by the nose. I'll have to watch for this in future. We have no recovery boat so I had to let it drift back to shore inverted, floating on the front of the wing and the canopy. I noticed that the cockpit let a lot of water in; this was due to the port rear part of the canopy having become de-bonded; I've no idea if this was due to the 'flip' or a previous condition unnoticed as it still sat flush. Some canopy glue will soon have it fixed.
12 May 13 - Today marked the first wheeled flight of the Icon A5. The small wheels struggled slightly on the rough patch but it managed to take-off and land without major problems.
2 Mar 13 - The Icon A5 got it's maiden flight today, which happened to also be off water at Longham Reservoir. Landing is simple; however, touching down just once eluded me; the Icon A5 has a lot of buoyancy in front of the CofG so the first touch tends to push the nose up and a series of small skips ensues. More practice will no doubt improve on this.
1 Jun 12 - The Icon A5 is a very attractive seaplane and was another on my list of great aircraft to model; Parkzone have produced an excellent replica of the original. I have fitted home made landing lights into the pre-moulded lenses, operated by a Turnigy Receiver Controlled Switch.