A5 crash kills lead designer

[daza]

Icon A5 plane crash kills two, including its lead designer

[planedriver]

That's a sad outcome.

 

 

[Birdseye]

Great statement: "The crash may be the result of a "steep vertical descent," according to Wired."

 

 

[BLA82]

Great statement: "The crash may be the result of a "steep vertical descent," according to Wired."

Those steep descents will get you every time lol.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Those steep descents will get you every time

I believe it was a sudden stop that did the damage.

 

Poor buggers.

 

 

[Guest Speedbird]

Icon A5 plane crash kills two, including its lead designer

Propably hit a powerline.... sad...

 

 

[Nico13]

Be a real shame if that dies along with its designer because it's one very sexy little plane and if you can believe all the advertising about how it handles it'd be a dream to fly.

 

 

[boleropilot]

yeah but if you read all the crap that you're obligated to agree to before they will sell you one, I'd be surprised if anyone bought one - Icons pre-purchase contract is apparently very much OTT

 

sad about the accident though, two less aviators, RIP guys

 

 

[alf jessup]

Nothing in aviation is immune from killing people

 

Nothing!!!!!, we as aviators kill ourselves on a regular basis going by the records

 

We are the weakest link in the pursuit of of our passion

 

 

[geoffreywh]

I disagree !........... It's not "We" that are the problem at all, "We" are still here, alive and well ( at least I am) It's "them" that's the problem, If "they" learned enough about safety then "They" would become "we"

 

 

[alf jessup]

I disagree !........... It's not "We" that are the problem at all, "We" are still here, alive and well ( at least I am) It's "them" that's the problem, If "they" learned enough about safety then "They" would become "we"

Ok Geoff

I rephrase it

 

We as humans (some of us humans not here anymore due to whatever reason pursuing the lore of flight)

 

Humans in general are the weakest link

 

 

[SDQDI]

I disagree !........... It's not "We" that are the problem at all, "We" are still here, alive and well ( at least I am) It's "them" that's the problem, If "they" learned enough about safety then "They" would become "we"

Assuming 'we' have no faults that will kill us and only 'they' do is a scary attitude to have.

We are 'ALL' human.

 

For sure we try and minimise the chances as much as we can but we are never immune from human error.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Sorry I lost track somewhere between the us. the them and the we..

 

Yes sad to see.

 

 

[eightyknots]

"Coupled with layoffs and a recent scaling back in delivery estimates for the aircraft with foldable wings, how Icon and the A5 fare from here isn't clear"

 

It does not sound good for the future of this type.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

It does not sound good for the future of this type.

Just wait for the lawsuit.

 

 

[jetjr]

or someone will buy the whole thing, now certified etc.and in production ........ and do well.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

or someone will buy the whole thing, now certified etc.and in production ........ and do well.

Many have been predicting that for a long time. The math has never been there for the 100 million plus invested.

 

Get lots of investment, pay yourself whopping salaries, sell your shares at peak, then find ways out so you walk away rich. MBA 101.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

...probably the opposite to the CAMit story.

 

 

[JEM]

Preliminary accident report here

 

NTSB Releases Preliminary Icon Accident Report

 

 

[BLA82]

It's definitely a great looking plane

 

 

[ozbear]

Many have been predicting that for a long time. The math has never been there for the 100 million plus invested.Get lots of investment, pay yourself whopping salaries, sell your shares at peak, then find ways out so you walk away rich. MBA 101.

Probably was said about a lot of innovators just maybe the world will end up with a great little aircraft remember a bloke called Henry Ford.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Probably was said about a lot of innovators just maybe the world will end up with a great little aircraft remember a bloke called Henry Ford.

I am not talking about the innovation, I am referring to the 120 million investment and the ongoing costs, and what returns are mathematically possible.

 

Henry built a cheap simple car that everyone could afford, and invented the production techniques to make it possible - the very area where Icon are struggling. There is literally no comparison between the 2.

 

 

[ozbear]

I am not talking about the innovation, I am referring to the 120 million investment and the ongoing costs, and what returns are mathematically possible.Henry built a cheap simple car that everyone could afford, and invented the production techniques to make it possible - the very area where Icon are struggling. There is literally no comparison between the 2.

These days it costs 120 mill to build a car park or pay a bunch of consultants to tell a local council what it already knows and the janitors cat has more wisdom. Give them a go

 

 

[eightyknots]

I am not talking about the innovation, I am referring to the 120 million investment and the ongoing costs, and what returns are mathematically possible.Henry built a cheap simple car that everyone could afford, and invented the production techniques to make it possible - the very area where Icon are struggling. There is literally no comparison between the 2.

Henry Ford really revolutionised the manufacturing industry and made the idea of making complex items using a production line the way to make things consistently and accurately. However, he was not the first. In the United States, "the land of the free", it was always considered that people had the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Constitution. This required a lot of arms to be made. So, well before Henry Ford, the arms manufacturers in the United States already had a well developed production line system that worked successfully.

 

BTW: I like Henry Ford's statement:

 

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it..."

 

 

[facthunter]

The Ford "T" wasn't just another car. It actually functioned much better than most of the other offerings in a practical sense and was produced by the most advanced methods of the time of good metals (Vanadium steel alloys) and CHEAP enough for almost anyone to afford. It relegated the motorcycle to the enthusiasts only brigade in the USA as it was cheaper than most of the "top " models of the US motorcycles. The BB V8 was a single ONE piece cast cylinder block, introduced around 1932. A masterpiece of foundry technique at the time. The "T" Model ran through till 1927, then the "A" the "B" and the optional mode V8 which configuration became a FORD mainstay.

 

My appreciation of the design of the T came later in life for me as I tended to go for sophisticated design whether it went well or not. ( Really did the job). You could dismantle 4 T models and rearrange the bits and reassemble them and they would run satisfactorily.. This is by maintaining close TOLERENCES with good quality control of mass produced parts. Many others were hand fitted with no real interchangeability without individual fitting and adjustment to get alignment and running clearances correct. Henry put his workers salaries up in the late teens much to the chagrin of the other automakers. His reply to criticism was allegedly along the lines of " If I don't pay my workers a decent salary how would they be able to buy my cars? He wasn't perfect, having been credited with turning machine guns on striking workers, one time. It's interesting to note the "T" motor was used in the Original Pietenpol "air Camper", the block lightened by chiselling some weight from an already fairly light cylinder block. Nev