Design Awards 2010

The Judges Awards

11. Life-enhancer of the Year

11.4 Icon A5 aircraft
by Icon

11.1 ‘Folding Plug System’
by Min-Kyu Choi
11.2 Help health-care range
by Help Remedies
11.3 The High Line
by Friends of the High Line, James Cornerfield Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro
11.5 ‘Kyoto Box’ solar cooker
by Kyoto Energy

The garage-friendly Icon A5 is a private plane with a proclivity for contortionism. Costing $139,000 - about the price of a good sports car - this roadster-cum- helicopter hybrid is an exhilarating new toy for the not so super-rich. Former US Air Force pilot Kirk Hawkins has spent the past four years developing the A5, the first of Icon’s efficient aeronautical designs. Loaded with a smattering of souped-up features, the streamlined A5 boasts an automobile- style dashboard and retractable wings. Built around a lightweight carbon-fibre frame, the two- seater plane comes with its own trailer for ease of transport and can even be found in amphibious form, free from the otherwise essential landing gear. Reaching top speeds of 120mph and with an MP3 port to boot, the A5 is the ultimate in weekend-away luxury. And thanks to the newly available FAA sports pilot's licence – requiring fewer medical tests and a far less stringent flight syllabus - it shouldn't be long before the A5 rules the skies.

Company based: Southern California
Key features: Amphibious light sport aircraft with foldable wings
Other projects: A seaplane configuration and further light sport aircraft models

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www.iconaircraft.com