While attempting to research green technologies I got sidetracked by the Icon A5. It is not an ultralight, (one of the things I was searching for), and so it does not exactly fit my category of promising alternatives to cars. It does get 18 mpg, and I suppose that's better than some cars, but weighing in at 1,400 pounds it's too big to be considered an ultralight and it's intended to be a recreational vehicle. Nonetheless, I decided to write about it because it is a fascinating little aircraft. To begin with it's amphibious, landing on land or in water.

The Icon A5 features a carbon-fiber airframe with red accents. It burns either jet fuel or regular gasoline. It has a 100 horse power engine, and take off only requires 700 feet. It can fly as slow as 50 mph or as fast as 120 mph. If things go wrong it can be landed with its rocket launched parachute. It is 22 feet in length with a wingspan of 34 feet. The wings can be folded for a trailer and it fits in a garage. Sounds like time for a nice picnic at the lake, and a flight around the local mountain range.

The starting price of the Icon A5 is 139,000. Though not an ultralight it does classify as a light sport aircraft. This allows for easier certification requirements to pilot it. All that is required is 20 hours of training at a cost of about 4,000. If you've got 150,000 just waiting to spend on recreation this could be the item.

I hope I am not crushing my eco credentials as an author writing about it. It can't be any worse than driving an SUV on a trip to the desert to explore ecosystems. Anyway being nearly better than cars maybe it will enable solutions that actually are. I can say in some cities where 90 percent of the fuel is wasted waiting in traffic jams that the Icon A5 would certainly represent an improved mode of transportation. After all its 18 mpg is a strait line flight from point A to point B. With the 700 foot landing requirement it doesn't require a very long runway.

The cockpit is designed to be like a sports car. The cockpit controls include a GPS moving maps all terrain and weather system in real-time. I am impressed by multiple gauges instead of a single digital screen. My own sense is that controls should be modularized. (I fear an Orwellian world where Jumbo Jets, run for safety reasons by centrally managed computer systems, go down right and left over populated areas.) No sense in everything going out at the same time. The Icon A5 by contrast is designed and marketed to be simple to fly, with modularized controls.

The plane is produced by Icon Aircraft located in Southern California and founded by Kirk Hawkins, a former Air Force fighter pilot. Cessna and Cirrus are also gearing up with new offerings similar to the Icon A5. I will be looking for something with slightly better mpg, and that can land on an even shorter runway. Then we just need to convince people to use the better mode of transportation. We can reserve the Icon A5 for fairly well off weekend enthusiasts and charge them a gas tax that pays for inner city runways for even more economical ultralights. There, now I have saved my eco credentials.