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Yeah, I got the 4-blade out of the factory, so I just need the POH and the VGs. My ICON comes off Demo lease next month and will have the mod stuff done during turnover maintenance. Work will be done here in Denton TX (KDTO) at US Sport Planes (ussportplanes.com , 940-597-6860). The mechanic is now an ICON Certified repair place, so I will have maintenance on the field. Anybody nearby who doesn't want to go to Tampa can swing up here to get work done.

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So for those of us who didn't get the 4-blade on our original aircraft: Icon wants $6500 for the prop BUT AN EXTRA $5500 ON TOP OF THAT ($12000 TOTAL) IF YOU WANT THE 60 LB GROSS WEIGHT INCREASE! That's crazy

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Yeah, I guess if you don’t need the extra pounds that I would probably just do the Four blade because it definitely puts more pep in your step and is quieter..

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I am happy to help refund all their development and testing hours to get the 60lbs added to my airworthiness certificate. If someone is 160lbs or less, maybe the extra gross weight is less important. At 200lbs, I will gladly pay for the engineering.

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My plane partner and I just did the GW upgrade at the factory in Vacaville then flew back to Seattle. The reduction in cabin noise and vibration from the new prop made the trip much more enjoyable and we both felt far less tired. Going into that upgrade we were both ambivalent about whether it would be worth it. Now we're glad we did! I'll be planning longer cross countries now.

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Hello Steve, Can u take a picture of the Stall Strip Vorticle Generators? I would love to see their design and position.

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A pic of mine with the 4 bladed prop and new vortex generators on the wings for the useful load increase.

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Looks great James. That color is hot. Any chance of getting a close up pic of the VG’s?

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Will do when I get back to the plane. But it’s the same ones already on top of the wing.

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have you noticed that in this case the vortex generators are not paired

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My mod kit is here and ready to go!

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Took redelivery yesterday with 4 bladed prop and useful load increase. VERY noticeable increase in performance, true airspeed of 90 knots and decrease in volume in the cockpit.

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Mine just arrived (in a box) yesterday. Unbelievable how lightweight the blades are - and the weight of the hub is even more amazing.

The FedEx guy delivered it to our open garage and placed in right behind the rear wheel of one of our vehicles. Luckily we saw it before jumping in the car and backing out. THAT would have been a bad day.

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Wow... Close call Michael! James, thanks for the great feedback. I am glad the new prop is getting so many positive reviews!

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Nice! I can’t wait for my annual/mod to be finished!

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Close up pic of the new VGs that was requested.

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I was surprised when I saw mine they were not a new shape, but like the originals.

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They are identical. Just spread apart over the Stall Strip

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Is there printed details in the installation instructions, as to where exactly they need to be placed? Would like to see that page, if someone has it.

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I’d help if I could

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I checked to see if I still had the Position Mylar templates but I think Jimmy took them.

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Thanks for checking. If anyone still has the templates, I’d appreciate seeing them.

I checked to see if I still had the Position Mylar templates but I think Jimmy took them.

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I'd make sure to keep those in case they are ever needed again to replace a lost VG.

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here is a link the VG'S ICON uses you can get 100 of them for $62 but knowing where they go on the wing is extremely important.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...clickkey=11377

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Thanks for the info Bret.

here is a link the VG'S ICON uses you can get 100 of them for $62 but knowing where they go on the wing is extremely important.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...clickkey=11377

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After looking at the photo I’m baffled at the location of those VG’s behind the stall strip it’s non-sensical. Knowing who they had left to do the flight test and the “experts” they had available to them I question everything about this choice. I was hired by, worked for, and sat next to Jon Karkow for 18 months until his untimely passing and we talked about spin resistance aero and flight testing a lot and just how hard it was to achieve. I’m confident he would shake his head in annoyance at the those 4 VG’s behind the stall strip.

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Visually, I also wasn't thrilled about the additional VGs in that location at first. However, after extensive testing of a variety of different solutions (flap droop, VGs and other enhancing materials in various locations, etc.), this solution proved to be the best way to achieve our goal of increasing the gross weight without increasing stall speed. This was an important initiative for us, and I'm grateful to our Engineering and R&D teams for delivering. The flight testing to validate the solution and gather performance data was thorough and very time consuming and utilized a flight test plan previously developed by Jon Karkow and spin resistance test procedures that were authored by Bret himself.

And while MOSAIC might provide future opportunities to further enhance the useful load and eliminate the stall speed restriction almost completely for the A5, until then, ICON owners can enjoy an extra 60 lbs from this enhancement plus additional weight savings from the new lightweight propeller.

I'm proud of the team for achieving this objective despite the internal and external challenges that were facing the company at the time and I would politely push back on Bret's insinuation that the engineers and test pilots who worked on this project lacked "expertise." Having left the company more than three years ago, I don't believe he's qualified to make that assessment at this point.

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Thanks Jerry, Just because I have been gone for 3 years doesn't mean whispers aren't heard, its a small world out there and I still live a mile from the HQ and I spend a fair bit of time at the airport. So politely can I ask who did the spin resistance testing? You can DM me if you want.

The procedure I authored was subset of the full matrix I worked with Len Fox (who did all the original spin resistance testing along with Jon Karkow) to develop it which explicitly said for minor OML changes in the report (like when we added the cups on the leading edge pin receptacles), Increasing the gross weight or adding VG's is not minor with respect to Spin Resistance IMO and experience. Jon always talked about those stall strips and how freaking critical they were to be placed exactly where they needed to be within 1/8". We had many late night conversations on the spin resistance testing subject, I've had almost as many with Len Fox. Both amazing Test Pilots and Engineers.

I hope you guys had Len do the testing, if so, i'm onboard with the change, i'll maintain its a little strange. I'll happy eat my words, after all I still subscribe to "Own it" which IIRC is/was one of the 7 tenets asked of all ICON employees. Otherwise I will remain skeptical, which is my right.

Hope you are well.

P.S. Congratulations on successful Bankruptcy. I love it when the $65 million loan, gets forgiven at the last minute right before the gavel drops, convenient to say the least. Impressive game of chess by the Chinese. Well played.

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Just wondering....not sure folks are allowed to say, but in flight testing did they ever actually spin an ICON. It may not have met the FAA requirements for spin recovery, but was Test Pilot able to recover it?

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Hey Erich, Happy to tell you, Answer is no. There are a couple of reasons 1st and foremost it wasn't required and 2nd, It wouldn't be a good idea as its well known through lots of NASA and other research that spin resistant designs, if you do get it into a spin, are likely not to be recoverable. The aircraft will spiral though which is certainly not a spin but to the layman it looks like one out the window if you don't recognize the speed is climbing at an alarming rate. This is why there is a placard over your head on the canopy (by reg) that says "no intentional spins" and "no prolonged stalls" and the POH says if you do get into a spin pull the parachute. There is very specific requirements to meet and test conditions to perform to prove spin resistance, it was extremely difficult to do. As far as I know the ICON A5 is the only aircraft in the world to meet these requirements by only aerodynamics. It three different wing designs, 2 tails, lengthening the tail and shortening the tail along with many many aerodynamic devices and adjustments to make it happen. It was quite an accomplishment.

Important note the aircraft and ICON proved the aircraft was spin resistant to the Letter of the law but that doesn't mean its spin proof. There are ways you could figure out how to get the aircraft into a spin. So please don't do that and become inadvertent test pilot.

The regulation that detailed out spin resistance is no longer in the current regulation after a reorganization but its in a 14 CFR 23.221 (a) 2 amendment 23-50. The requirement says you either need to be spin recoverable or by the applicants option spin resistant but you don't have to demonstrate both. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...-sec23-221.pdf