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 |  | | ICON AIRCRAFT
ICON Newsletter 20 February 2013 | |
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Technicians lay up the carbon fiber tooling that Cirrus Aircraft will use to manufacture horizontal tail skins for the production A5 in their Grand Forks, North Dakota, facility | |
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| Production Update |
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| Production of the A5 started in December 2012 with the completion of the first tooling master. ICON's composite supplier, Cirrus Aircraft, will use the composite tooling produced from this master to manufacture production A5 horizontal tail skins. With the recent release of drawings for the wing and fuselage masters, the rest of the major airframe skins are now in fabrication as well. The master molds for the wing skins were delivered on schedule to Cirrus Aircraft in the first week of February. |
CAD model of the completed tooling master mold for the right half of the fuselage skin |
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| In the past few months, ICON has also advanced all other major systems of the A5. Various components of the avionics package, including the angle of attack (AoA) and attitude indicator instruments, are currently undergoing pre-production manufacturing and testing. AoA indicators significantly advance light aircraft safety but are not in widespread use in general aviation. Therefore, ICON is using a proprietary AoA system, with significant milestones in the development and component testing process being recently completed. Numerous other components of the avionics and aircraft systems are in the midst of testing or have been recently tested, including the radio and intercom, antennae including types and locations, propeller type and performance, and brakes. All production-related work that concerns suppliers, manufacturing, tooling, and facilities is being carefully managed by ICON's production team and tracked at a high level in what has become colloquially known as "the war room." |
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Planning board with master schedule from "the war room" in ICON's production department |
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| With the industrial design of external surfaces complete, ICON's designers have been finishing the details of the interior. Class A surfacing of the interior is largely complete with several data releases imminent, including seats, instrument panel, glare shield, and center console. ICON's design and engineering teams have been optimizing the smallest details of the A5, particularly around "human factors": how people interact with the airplane. No detail was too small to escape scrutiny, from placing seatbelt mounts for maximum comfort and safety of occupants to optimizing the throw and arc of the throttle lever so it is intuitive and natural to use to refining the font and markings on the instrument faces to optimally balance legibility and aesthetics. These details, while individually small, are important and represent ICON's goal to create a user experience that unambiguously raises the bar for user experience in general aviation. |
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An ICON designer and digital sculptor discuss intricacies of the wingtip |
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| The horizontal tail tip removal system is another area in which ICON's industrial design and engineering teams have collaborated closely in recent months. The tips of the horizontal tail are removable in order for the A5 to fit within the Department of Transportation's over-the-road width limit when the aircraft is being trailered. The system has been designed around a simple sliding action with positive locking pin, which is both user-friendly and serves to ensure that the tip of the tail is securely installed. A cockpit display, similar to those used in cars to indicate when doors are ajar, is used to inform the pilot when the horizontal tail tips are not installed, or not installed correctly. This solution embodies ICON's philosophy of combining ease of use, design, engineering, and safety to provide an exceptional user experience. |
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The horizontal tail, with elevator removed for clarity, showing the tip in its installed and removed positions |
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Lighting is another area of significant progress that represents ICON's philosophy of innovating around both design and engineering. In addition to being highly functional, lighting is a defining design element of the A5, so ICON selected Global Technology Ventures, a supplier from the automotive industry with a proven ability to deliver reliable, high-quality LED assemblies that also meet ICON's rigorous design standards. The organizations collaborated closely during the design and testing phases to achieve a production solution that is more efficient and visually dynamic than the lights first shown on ICON's concept aircraft. During December, ICON verified the performance and operation of the A5's landing and taxi lights via day and night testing and will complete pre-production acceptance testing of lighting assemblies in late February and early March.
Over the past few months, ICON's engineers also performed many tests of various parts of the aircraft to confirm the validity of their analysis. ICON's technicians built test articles of composite wing and horizontal tail components, which were statically tested to assess their strength before final data release of tooling to manufacturers. Usability testing was also conducted on the wingfold mechanism, and the main landing gear legs have undergone both static and drop testing to ensure that the gear can withstand accidental hard landings. |
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The main landing gear undergoes a drop test to ensure that it can withstand the force of a hard landing |
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World-class design and performance from ICON Aircraft (A5), McLaren (MP4-12C), and Porsche (Carrera GT)
Photo courtesy of Dirk A. Photography by www.SupercarFocus.com | |
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| Sales |
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| ICON had an outstanding 2012 finishing the year with over 310 new owners joining the owner list, a 45% increase over 2011. With the position list recently passing #1050, ICON's sales and marketing teams are increasingly focused on developing the tools and processes to ensure every owner has a world-class experience when they order and take delivery of their A5. Every step of the process, from aircraft purchase to demo flights to factory visits and aircraft delivery, is being tailored for a singular purpose: to thrill A5 owners at every step of the way. Currently, the teams are developing the ICON Sport Pilot Training Program and preparing this spring's launch of the ICON Owners Center, a website dedicated to delivering A5 production updates, order processing, and communication. |
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| Company Growth | | |
ICON continues to grow with new team members in engineering, design, production management, HR, and finance. The annual holiday party was bigger than ever. This year's activities were dodgeball and Sumo wrestling, which resulted in lots of laughs and some hysterical photos.
ICON Aircraft Careers | |  |
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| 200,000 Facebook Fans | | |
Less than a year after passing 100,000 likes, ICON's Facebook page now has over 200,000 fans thanks to all the enthusiastic supporters around the world. Be sure to check out ICON on Facebook for the latest news.
ICON Aircraft on Facebook | | |
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| ICON Gear | | |
2012 was a great year for the ICON store. The A5 desktop model and the Horizon Hobby remote-controlled A5 model proved to be very popular. There are a number of new items in the store as well, including ICON's hooded sweatshirt and the new plane graphic premium water bottle.
ICON Merchandise Store | | |
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ICON Aircraft
12511 Beatrice Street, Los Angeles, CA 90066, United States
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