Tampa, Florida
CNN
 — 

Relating to piloting a airplane, I’ve zero expertise.

In reality, I’ve by no means even thought-about making an attempt it.

However, as we swoop over Florida’s Tampa Bay on a stunning November morning, I enthusiastically take over the controls of the ICON A5, a two-seater amphibious airplane that appears like a sports activities automotive, maneuvers like a jet ski and is so intuitive, the corporate says that even a novice can study to fly it in lower than 30 hours.

At 23 ft lengthy and weighing in a 1,510 kilos, it’s referred to as a sea light-sport plane.

Designed that can assist you give attention to the liberty of flying with out worrying if the airplane will react unpredictably, there’s nothing else fairly prefer it available on the market.

Now that I’m in management, my complete physique tenses for a very good 5 minutes. Am I actually able to pilot this shiny new machine all on my own? I’m not solely positive.

Nonetheless, I take consolation in the truth that the A5 was constructed particularly for individuals like me, and it was designed to drive like a automotive.

Plus, the truth that Icon’s CEO and founder, Kirk Hawkins, is subsequent to me within the cockpit doesn’t damage both. He can take over the controls at any time.

To this point, so good.

We glide easily by way of the air at about 1,000 ft, and I’m comfy sufficient to absorb the sights. Beautiful Fort De Soto Park doesn’t disappoint.

Squiggles of dreamy white dunes are surrounded by water that appears prefer it ought to be within the Caribbean.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, with its collection of long-spanning cables, is equally spectacular.

The adrenaline remains to be racing. And as most surreal experiences go, it simply retains getting higher.

For starters, there’s one other ICON A5 to my left, which is thrilling in itself. We’re flying in formation, and my job is to imitate its actions. You’d suppose this is able to be intimidating, however it’s not.

It’s simply plain enjoyable.

That’s music to Hawkins’ ears. He’s the brains behind this newfangled airplane, an concept 10 years within the making.

As a former Air Power F-16 pilot and a Stanford Enterprise Faculty grad, he has centered most of his grownup life on making sport flying obtainable to the lots.

“The thought for us was to create an airplane the place the common human being can exit and expertise the world with out having the burden of changing into an expert pilot,” he says.

So it is smart that the dashboard appears like what you see in your automotive. There are just a few gauges that I don’t acknowledge.

“It’s the Apple strategy to issues,” he says. “You humanize it, and make it intuitive and straightforward and funky.”

He’s so assured individuals will wish to fly (and purchase) his planes that he simply opened a flight-training facility at Peter O. Knight Airport.

Positioned on Davis Island, 5 minutes from downtown Tampa, it’s a spot the place each magnificence and sailboats abound.

The corporate’s different coaching heart is in Vacaville, California, the place ICON is headquartered.

By 9 a.m., it’s time for a short water-landing pitstop.

Hawkins takes over the controls. I’ve been too busy studying to fly in formation (not one thing non-pilots get to attempt fairly often) and interviewing Hawkins to even take into consideration studying to do a water touchdown myself. It’s one thing Hawkins tells me most individuals can grasp in about half-hour.

A couple of negative-Gs and 360-degree turns later and it turns into a enjoyable roller-coaster journey within the sky. Plus, it’s an open-air flight, so I sometimes flop my arms out. Simply because I can.

At just a few hundred ft above the water, it’s straightforward to identify a boater waving at us, a flock of pelicans and even stingrays.

“We’re gonna pull over right here and cease and get out for a second,” he says.

Certainly he’s kidding, proper? However after touchdown the airplane on the water, he takes off his seatbelt, and I notice he’s not.

Sky pioneers: A light aircraft revolution is taking off

Seconds later, he pops the roof and we climb onto the wings, which may simply double as diving boards. All of the sudden, this feels much less like a airplane outing and extra like I’m on a ship sunbathing.

All the things is drenched in a mesmerizing golden hue. I can think about picnicking on the seashore close by. Or taking the airplane someplace for a distant weekend tenting journey.

As a result of the airplane has a spread of about 430 miles on a full tank, it’s made for brief getaways.

“This complete factor is about inspiring individuals,” he explains. “When you study to fly, you’ll by no means be the identical. You’ll have a look at the sky totally different, you’ll have a look at the planet totally different.”

“The first motor abilities for working a airplane are fairly straightforward,” Hawkins tells me. “We now have individuals touchdown by themselves with an teacher on their very first day, inside half-hour.”

That stated, they’ve painstakingly taken the time to design it for security. The aim of the spin-resistant airframe characteristic is that if the pilot makes errors, the airplane doesn’t lose management.

As a backup, there’s a whole airplane parachute.

“The spin resistance characteristic is an enormous deal because it’s the primary airplane that the FAA has deemed spin-resistant,” says Chris Dupin, a flight teacher and US Air Power officer. “A big variety of basic aviation fatalities are from lack of management accidents that contain an unrecovered spin on the bottom to ultimate flip.”

Plus, there’s the angle of assault indicator, one thing you don’t usually see in a light-weight plane. It exhibits you the place the wing is pleased (within the inexperienced) or the place it may stall (within the purple).

The pilot’s job is to maintain the wing inside the inexperienced or yellow part of the gauge. That is a part of what makes water takeoffs and landings really easy to study.

“Kirk Hawkins has a particularly artistic and progressive concept for pilot coaching that’s extra intuitive; instructing the texture of flight first and the principals and construction later, not not like how individuals study to drive,” says Christine Negroni, veteran aviation journalist and writer of “The Crash Detectives.”

“The world is dealing with a pilot scarcity, so the concept of instructing in a different way, in order that totally different studying types may be accommodated may very effectively broaden the pool of pilot candidates.”

On that notice, about 40% of the parents who’ve put down deposits for the ICON A5 are usually not pilots, which suggests this airplane is drawing aviation newbies.

After an hour and a half of flying time, Hawkins lands us on the airport runway, a maneuver you could deal with after you’ve mastered a number of water landings. It’s a bit trickier because it requires extra precision and information about crosswinds.

At this level, if I owned this airplane, I’d hook it as much as a trailer, fold the wings up, drive it residence, and park it within the storage.

In order for you your individual ICON A5, get in line. Greater than 1,800 prospects have put deposits down.

For individuals who aren’t able to shell out $207,000 to purchase one, there’s the choice of stopping by ICON’s coaching facility in Tampa, or the power in Vacaville, California, to fly for the day.

The Sport Flying Introduction class is 1.5 hours for $595. To snag your Sport Pilot License, you will want to spend 20-plus hours and pricing varies.