ParkZone 5
They call this sleek light sport aircraft the jet ski of the sky!
By Frank Fanelli PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK FANELLI, SUSAN LEHRER and JIM WIGGIN E 30
very once and a while a company brings a scale model to market that is a refreshing breeze for its unique character and its performance.
ParkZone’s new ICON A5 is just such a mod- el. We chose to review it for that specific reason.
There’s no doubt that the model is the
first to recreate the very innovative am- phibious Light Sport Aircraft that the ICON Aircraft company will have avail- able for delivery in 2013. With the complex shapes the plane comprises, ParkZone chose to present this model in a much more accessible form as a molded Z-foam model, using electric power to turn the pusher prop. They also made the model a true am- phibian. With the supplied landing gear off the ICON A5 takes to water easily. If you’re more interested in terra firma, it
only takes about five minutes to switch to the fixed landing gear. As they have with many of the ParkZone
planes, the company has stuck with two op- tions, the Bind-N-Fly (BNF) version and the Plug-N-Play (PNP) version. Bind-N-Fly gives you all the radio gear pre-installed, as well as a simple charger for the included 3- cell Li-Po battery. Plug-N-Play gives you the plane minus the radio gear and charger. If you go the latter route a 4-channel radio is required. ParkZone sent FMthe Bind-N-Fly to help
get the model into the air quickly, and take advantage of the still comfortable Fall weather. Assembly was quick and the parts fit was excellent. This version of the plane will require a Spektrum or a JR 2.4 GHz transmitter since the installed receiver is the 2.4 GHz Spektrum AR600. For those choosing the Plug-N-Play op-
tion, the radio choice is yours, as long as it’s at least 4-channel. The ICON A5 uses ele- vator, rudder, aileron and throttle control. Four micro servos are already installed, as they are in the Bind-N-Fly so the only other radio gear is a transmitter and receiver, as well as a suitable Li-Po battery. For this ver- sion the old 72 or 50 MHz systems can be used.
Since both versions, the BNF and the
PNP, have most or all of the equipment in- stalled, assembly goes very quickly and the brevity of the manual gives a good clue to that. The two wing panels slide onto a carbon fiber spar, then nest in a plastic pocket at the fuselage wing root. A single screw in each panel, through a tab in the plastic pocket holds the wing fast to the fuselage. The horizontal “T” stab simply screws into another plastic pocket at the top of the vertical stab.
FEBRUARY 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76