If You鈥檝e Flown Light Aircraft Before

It鈥檚 time to face fact: The flying car will probably never happen. But here is a carbon-fiber flying boat that is intended to be as easy and natural to operate as the family Camry, if about eleventy-billion times more fun. The Icon A5, which started as a napkin sketch more than ten years ago by ex-F-16 fighter jock and company founder Kirk Hawkins, flushes airplane convention down the commode with its carlike dashboard, simple controls, and ultra-stable flying manners. If you ever wondered what it鈥檇 be like to fly out of a swimming pool in a Mazda Miata with wings, this is as close as you鈥檒l ever get. Granted, you have to be doing pretty well in life already to afford one. 257,000 (less-expensive versions will come later, we鈥檙e told), the A5 is likely to be the umpteenth vehicle in your household(s), best suited to your isolated lakeside estate where it can serve as a joyous runabout or go-into-town vehicle. A fuel-injected Rotax 912 four-cylinder engine making 100 horsepower turns a three-blade fixed-pitch prop that pushes along the stupendously entertaining amphibious two-seater, which weighs a feathery 1080 pounds empty and has a max takeoff weight of 1510 pounds.

There may be no flying car coming, but the car industry has its thumbprints all over the Icon. Key members of its creation team came from the industry, including design vice present Klaus Tritschler, formerly of BMW Designworks, and Dong Tan, who worked in Honda鈥檚 advanced design studio on the NSX and Civic. There are other ex-industry people working in production at the company鈥檚 250-employee Vacaville, California headquarters. Traditionally, airplanes have been highly technical vehicles designed for highly technical people, says CEO Hawkins. Climb onto the A5鈥檚 wide side sponson, unlatch the large forward-tilting canopy (the side windows remove if desired, but don鈥檛 try it in flight), and plop into the sculpted pilot鈥檚 seat. The automotive inspiration is obvious. As in a car, you twist a small key to start the overhead Rotax鈥攚hich has a gear-reduction output and thus a distinctly gravely voice鈥攁nd off you go. Once a seaplane is started on the water, it moves; there is no way to brake except to turn it into a stiff wind.

Icon fits a small deployable water rudder in back to help you steer, and the overall lowness of the design means the waves are practically lapping at your elbows. A sliding lever between the seats is the throttle. Push it forward, put in a little left rudder with the pedals to keep it straight against the torque reaction, and the Icon easily comes up on 鈥渢he step,鈥?or the bow plane. You can skate along a smooth lake like this for hours, the world鈥檚 biggest and coolest jet-ski, but ease back the Icon鈥檚 slim, delicate stick and you鈥檙e aloft. Nothing is idiot-proof, but Icon aimed for and has achieved high idiot-resistance. Yank the stick back into a stall, which in most aircraft is followed by a heart-stopping plunge, and the A5 just hangs there, the inboard part of the thick, asymmetrical wing stalled but the outboard portion still generating lift.

The A5 also resists spinning, another dangerous situation. If all else fails, there鈥檚 a rocket-powered parachute that will bring the plane down under canopy. When you鈥檙e not intentionally trying to crash it, the A5 hums along, skimming the water or the treetops at eye level with the seagulls, which you should avoid. Though it鈥檚 heavy for its class of light-sport aircraft, it鈥檚 highly maneuverable, with a surprisingly fast roll rate that will stand it on its wing in a 60-degree bank, you pressed into the seats by 2 gs. If you鈥檝e flown light aircraft before, it takes about 15 minutes to learn how to land it in smooth water and just a little longer to land it wheels-down on a strip. 9500 training course, conducted at its own school in Vacaville over two weeks, is designed to get spring-chicken rookies through the FAA-mandated sport-pilot licensing, although some pilots may need a few extra hours. 1250 checkout course for seaplane-rated pilots. After that, the Icon will carry you and a companion aloft on airborne adventures not imaginable in any car. Well, not for the foreseeable future, anyway.

The car鈥檚 suspension set-up is automatically altered to adapt to different types of surface using Land Rover鈥檚 Terrain Response 2 technology, which is fitted as standard on HSE Luxury models. Interior quality is strong, although the standard of the build is a little behind its rivals here. The HSE Luxury is as upmarket as its name suggests, though, with 21-inch alloy wheels, four-zone climate control, a Meridian stereo system, heated front and second-row seats and a heated steering wheel. There鈥檚 also a digital dashboard and Land Rover鈥檚 latest 10-inch touchscreen infotainment set-up. The Land Rover鈥檚 ability off road is unmatched, but it鈥檚 also a brilliant road car. The Discovery makes no apologies about being set up for comfort, and doesn鈥檛 even feature sporty driving modes; after all, what would be the point? The other cars do offer these settings, but they make little difference, because ultimately these are huge SUVs that are designed to deliver comfort rather than grip and lots of agility. That鈥檚 not to say the Land Rover is missing those attributes; in fact, its body is nearly as well controlled as its rivals鈥?