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I am thinking about basing my Icon A5 on a well maintained municipal grass field. I know that Icon indicates grass field operations are acceptable. Anyone have any real world observations that they would like to share?

Cheers,

George Zeller

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I have not had my Icon on grass yet, but my friend Jay Curtis has. I will ask him to weigh in. I know you need to use the Soft Field take-off checklist (Flaps Half) or the TO roll is loooong.

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Yes we operate on smooth grass all the time and marcus is correct the 15 deg takeoff shortens it considerably and accelerate in ground effect

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My runway is Grass.
Michel - N324MN

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The ICON A5 is great on grass!

The aircraft is light on its wheels, so it stays up out of the mud and the divots. On approach, I typically use full flaps and come in at 3,000 RPM, following the white line down all the way on short final. Flare and keep the wheels off the grass as long as possible, then gently touch down while holding stick full aft to keep the nose wheel aloft. I find the nose wheel tends to drop quite fast in our A5, for whatever it's worth, so I like to add a touch of power after touching down just as the nose wheel begins to sink to control / slow the rate of nose wheel decent for the smoothest possible butter landing.

If you're comfortable landing a Cessna or Cub on grass already, then don't hesitate. The ICON A5 is a very capable grass strip and backcountry flyer. Enjoy (and share some pictures)!