Design Development: Klaus Tritschler on how the Icon A5 was designed like a car

Look at a mood board in a car-design studio and, along with the obligatory Eames chairs and iPhones, you’re often likely to see the interior of a business jet, chosen for its particularly opulent take on modern, jet-setting luxury. But while car designers seek inspiration from aviation, one firm is attempting to reverse that relationship.

Founded in 2006, Icon Aircraft is using the car-design process to create its planes, inside and out. Its first production model, the A5, is about to enter series production, with the firm having sold around 2000 since order books opened in 2008. The team of seven permanent designers, plus six contractors, is headed by VP of design, Klaus Tritschler, who joined Icon in late 2010.

Clay model review. From left: Kirk Hawkins, Klaus Tritschler, Steen Strand, Dong Tran

“I was at [BMW Group] DesignworksUSA for 16 years because of the diversity of projects and quality of our creative talent,” says Tritschler. “At Designworks, I designed BMW motorcycles, yachts, and business jets among other projects. But while we were able to raise the bar for jet interior design, plane exteriors are traditionally done by aerodynamicists.”

Icon image showing progress in sport plane design (or lack of)

When asked why he decided to make the move into aviation design, Tritschler added “FAA regulations have been severely restrictive to the design of planes for decades, from the 747 to tiny two-seaters and plane design had become stagnant. Icon saw the new FAA Light Sport regulation segment as an opportunity to maximise the opportunities that design could bring to the flight experience. This is the challenge that inspired me to join the company.”

Lead designer Dong Tran sketching the production A5

Although Icon’s founders have an aviation background, the company has always had automotive design processes in mind for its plane, with the initial theme sketching and modelling being done by Nissan Design America’s project lead designer, Randy Rodriguez. The production plane remains similar to Rodriguez’s concept, although Tritschler adds that every surface was remodelled. This was partially due to aerodynamics and also to further evolve and refine the design.

Rendering of the A5

“The design processes that enable us to achieve the quality of today’s cars has been honed since the 1940s,” says Tritschler. “Design quality and surface sophistication, ergonomics and CMF in cars have reached a very high level.”

Milling the full-size clay model at Aria

For that reason, the development of exterior and interior design followed the typical process from sketches and renderings to tape drawings, Alias models and clay. In addition to scale models, a full-size model was made by California-based concept-car builder Aria – to Tritschler’s knowledge, the A5 is the only plane that has been clay modelled in full-size. “It’s the only way to ensure it looks right,” he adds. “You have to build it full size, see and interact with it at a human scale, apply Di-Noc, take it outside – otherwise you don’t get the result.”

Dong Tran checking a surface of the model

Simply applying car design techniques to making a plane isn’t as simple as it sounds. “Traditionally the process with designing a plane, even a luxury business jet, is to design a fuselage that flies and then fit the people in afterwards,” says Tritschler. “The big difference between a plane and a car is that in a car, the air always comes straight from the front. With a sport plane it comes from many angles, leading to the temptation to make everything round, with no surface sophistication. The plane’s lift and handling need to be predictable no matter where you are flying, so that means feature lines need to be carefully placed, aligned with typical airflow and softened where airflow varies greatly or pressure is low.”

Fuselage requires large, single-piece moulds to save weight

Add in the fact that the A5 is also capable of landing on water, and there is plenty to challenge even the most experienced designer. “The biggest challenge was weight,” he adds. “The aircraft couldn’t weigh more than 1000lbs empty, which is about a third of a McLaren P1, so that meant that weight saving was brutal. On the exterior that meant we had to be able to make the entire bodyside with one tool – that’s a 23ft long mould. Breaking up the side in multiple parts would have added weight through flanges and adhesive or bolts.”

Interior theme sketch

Weight savings extended to the cockpit of the plane, where materials like a leather-topped IP had to be abandoned because of the weight of the material and the glue to hold it in place. However, the plane does feature one additional gauge that isn’t usually fitted to small sport planes.

Render shows the prominent location of the angle of attack gauge

“Look at the top of the gauges and there’s an angle of attack dial,” says Tritschler. “One of the company’s founders was an F-16 pilot, and considered it the most important of all. The AOA gauge tells you the orientation of the wing relative to the wind, which is an accurate display of lift. If you know the position of your plane’s wings, then you can work everything else out from there.”

Finished production A5 interior

The dial was redesigned from a simple vertical counter to an accurate representation of the wing profile, making it easy to understand. The gauge alone makes the A5 easier and safer to fly, particularly for novice pilots.

Finished production exterior of the plane that’s just starting series production

The A5 is a $250,000 plane, benchmarked against luxury boats and Ferraris, rather than other planes. However, cheaper models are on the way, and the firm has already developed a flight training programme inspired by Keith Codes Superbike School and Skip Barber’s Racing School at Laguna Seca, California.

Folding wings allow the A5 to be trailered

While the future models are as-yet undecided, Tritschler says the car and motorcycle-inspired design process will be the same, helped by the fact that the company is in the process of expanding its Northern California headquarters to include a larger design facility that includes a clay studio for two full-size aircraft. A flying car might still be the stuff of daydreams, but a car-designed planes is just about closest to that reality you can get.