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Folding plane

Imagine a plane you can fold up and take with you on vacation. A plane you can park in your driveway. A plane you can land on a mountainside or land in a lake. If you like the idea, you may be glad to hear someone else has been imagining it, and it exists.

The ICON A5 is the brainchild of former F-16 pilot and Stanford Business School graduate, Kirk Hawkins. It's a Light Sport Aircraft, a basic airplane for recreational purposes. Weighing in at 430-530 pounds, it has all the gizmos you'll need, but not so many as to be confusing. And the trick to making it mobile is its wings, which can be folded up by hand in about five minutes, or automatically in about 60 seconds. 

If you think this is a pipe dream, you might be pleased to hear a prototype flew for the first time in July 2008. The plane can take off and land on both land and water, and fly up to 10,000ft. When you run out of gas, you can refuel on automotive or aviation fuel, at a gas station, a marina, or an airport.

Sounds too good to be true? Perhaps. But the company is taking orders and expects to begin production in late 2010. The price? $139,000. It sounds expensive, yes, but remember this is a plane we're talking about. RM

Images: ICON

2009 Jan 8 4 responses. share this

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