I bet Sam's not a happy camper now

Some time back my acquaintance Sam was generous enough to let me
fly his Czech Sportcruiser (which later became the Piper Sport, and
then got dropped by them). I'd flow a Rotax 912 before (CTLS) and was
familiar with how amazingly quiet and low vibration they were. I
remember Sam telling me that he'd already placed his deposit down
on an Icon A5, and I've been waiting now years for it to arrive.

Well, things aren't looking so appealing with that deal anymore.

Specifically:

"As the A5 finally gets close to being delivered to pilots, the company’s lengthy purchase agreement has raised a number of questions. Among the unique requirements of the contract a

â—¾Either agree not to sue ICON (exception for defects), or pay $10,000 to avoid this requirement
â—¾ICON reserves the right to approve future sales of the airplane
◾Owners agree to pay ICON $5,000 if future owners don’t agree to the contract
â—¾All maintenance must be performed by ICON-approved shops
â—¾All pilots must be complete ICON-approved training programs
â—¾The airplane must be overhauled every 10 years or 2,000 hours
â—¾The airplane is limited to a life of 30 years or 6,000 hours
â—¾All A5s will include flight data recorders (and eventually cameras), which cannot be removed

"It’s particularly galling to some that ICON is so concerned about potential accidents or negative press, since their marketing shows nothing but low flying airplanes and aggressive maneuvers. The suggestion is that you can do anything you want in the airplane, just don’t blame ICON if something goes wrong. And if you do, expect to hear about your flight data recorder."

http://airfactsjournal.com/2016/03/d...ts-going-icon/

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