Plane Maker to Wing Way to New City, Incentives

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Icon Aircraft recently showed off its Southern California-built A5 light sport aircraft at the Experimental Aviation Association’s annual airshow, but the company will head elsewhere as it continues efforts to build a market for its airplane.

For now, Icon has offices in Los Angeles in addition to an engineering and production facility in Tehachapi, where the company assembled its first production model A5. That’s all set to change early next year as Icon has announced plans to consolidate its headquarters and manufacturing operations at a 140,000-square-foot facility in the Solano County city of Vacaville in the first quarter.

Icon chose Vacaville, about 35 miles southwest of Sacramento, after a national search, the company reported. Factors evaluated in the move included the availability of facilities near Vacaville’s airport, an attractive incentive package, a climate favorable to year-round flight operations and proximity to Sacramento, the Bay Area and wine country.

“The move will play a major role in achieving our goal to not only deliver the best consumer light sport aircraft in the world, but also a comprehensive flight training and operating experience that our customers and employees will absolutely love,” Icon Aircraft Chief Executive Kirk Hawkins said in a statement announcing the move.

The company’s decision came after the Vacaville City Council’s move a year ago to approve an incentive plan. Vacaville gave Icon a 10-year package that promises a 50 percent sales tax rebate during the company’s first two years in the city. After that, the plan goes to a performance-based formula in which Icon’s tax rebate is a function of the amount of jobs the company creates. At the high end, Icon could get a 75 percent sales tax rebate if it hires greater than the equivalent of 500 employees with annual average pay of $40,000. The deal also gives Icon a 50 percent cut off all hotel taxes generated by travelers visiting Vacaville to do business with the company.

Icon also received aid from Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Spokesman Brook Taylor said the agency helped Icon search for a location that would keep the company in the Golden State.

“Our perspective is that Icon was doing a nationwide search,” Taylor said. “Our only thought is making sure they stay in California.”

‘Sport’ certification

Icon’s A5 is a compact, propeller-driven, two-seat aircraft designed to take off and land via a runway or water. The aircraft can attain a maximum speed of 120 miles an hour and has a 34-foot wingspan. Its wings can be folded to make it easier to store the craft or tow it on a trailer. Icon also advertises the plane as having a spin-resistant design as a key safety feature.

As a light sport aircraft, the A5 is designed to be flown by a person meeting the requirements of a “sport pilot.” Obtaining a sport pilot’s certification requires 20 hours of lessons, compared with the 35 to 40 hours necessary to become a private pilot, according to the Experimental Aviation Association in Oshkosh, Wis.

Sport pilots are limited to flying during daytime and can operate in a niche between ultralight craft and more traditional planes.

Icon’s first production A5 made its debut in late July at the aviation association’s AirVenture show in Oshkosh, which attracted more than 500,000 people.

Association spokesman Dick Knapinski said there are an estimated 600,000 pilots in the United States, but the success of a craft like the A5 will depend on whether new people can be attracted to aviation.

He said an aircraft like the A5 is best suited for recreational flyers who might be attracted to sports like power boating or off-roading, or “those people who have said, ‘You know, I’d like to learn to fly someday’ but have never taken that next step.”

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