RC Plane Icon A5 Review (2026): Amphibious Fun or Overpriced Novelty?

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If you've spent any time browsing beginner-friendly trainers and stumbled onto a stubby-winged foam plane that looks like a miniature bush plane crossed with a jet ski, you've found the Icon A5. It's one of the most-searched amphibious RC planes on the market, and for good reason — the real ICON A5 is a striking, six-figure light-sport aircraft, and the RC version rides on that same visual appeal at a fraction of the cost.

But "looks great" and "flies great" are two different questions, and the Icon A5's RC lineup is more complicated than a single product page suggests. There's the current-generation E-flite 1.3m, an older ultra-micro version that's mostly a memory now, and a non-licensed foam kit that shows up occasionally under a different brand. Buyers routinely conflate all three — and some conflate the RC model entirely with the real $409,000 aircraft it's licensed from.

This review focuses on the E-flite ICON A5 1.3m, the model virtually everyone means when they search for an "Icon A5 RC plane." It covers what the plane actually does well, what owners have run into after real flight time, and — because the flagship version is now discontinued at Horizon Hobby — whether a different amphibious plane makes more sense as a first floatplane in 2026.

Icon A5 at a Glance

Quick Verdict

The Icon A5 is a genuinely fun, good-looking water flyer with docile SAFE-assisted handling, and it's a reasonable pickup if you find one in stock or gently used. It is not, however, an aerobatic plane, it lacks a functional water rudder, and it demands basic maintenance discipline (sealed seams, dried-out electronics) to avoid water damage. With the flagship version discontinued at Horizon Hobby, buyers shopping fresh in 2026 should weigh it seriously against the FMS Kingfisher, which does the same job with three interchangeable landing-gear sets and an actual water rudder for close to the same money.

Icon A5 — Overview & First Impressions

The Icon A5 line traces back to three distinct products, and mixing them up is the single most common mistake buyers make when searching for this plane:

• E-flite ICON A5 1.3m (BNF #EFL5850 / PNP #EFL5875) — the current, full-size hobby-grade version this review covers. Now discontinued at Horizon Hobby.
• ParkZone/E-flite UMX Icon A5 — a 622mm ultra-micro version, also discontinued, aimed at indoor/backyard flying rather than serious water work.
• A generic, non-licensed foam kit sold occasionally under other brand names — not an official product, and owner reports describe it needing extensive modification just to fly reliably.

There's also the actual full-scale ICON A5, a certified light-sport amphibious aircraft that carries a base price in the neighborhood of $400,000. It shares nothing mechanically with the RC version beyond the silhouette and the name, but it's worth mentioning because search results blend the two constantly.

The 1.3m E-flite version is the one worth talking about. Out of the box (or rather, out of the box once you supply a battery and, for the BNF version, a transmitter), it's a stable, SAFE-assisted flyer that looks the part on land or water. Horizon Hobby's official specs describe it as beginner-to-intermediate friendly, and Terry Dunn's review for Model Aviation rated it similarly: easy enough to build, but better suited to a pilot with some stick time already banked — mostly because water flying itself is a different skill set than flying off grass or pavement.

The plane replaced an earlier ParkZone Icon A5 that suffered from a "tail wag" (dutch roll) tendency. E-flite's AS3X stabilization on the 1.3m largely solved that, and it shows in owner feedback — dutch-roll complaints are notably absent for the current version.

Specs & What's in the Box

The E-flite ICON A5 1.3m ships in two configurations, and the difference matters more than it looks:

BNF Basic (#EFL5850) includes the airframe, installed 480-size 960Kv motor, 30A ESC, 9×8 three-blade prop, four servos, and a Spektrum AR636 receiver with AS3X and optional SAFE Select. You still need a compatible 4+ channel DSMX/DSM2 transmitter, plus a 3S 11.1V 2200mAh 30C LiPo with an EC3 connector — neither is included.

PNP (#EFL5875) is the identical airframe and power system without the receiver, meaning you'll need to source both a receiver and a transmitter separately, along with the same battery.

Both versions come with the amphibious hull built in, plus bolt-on wheeled landing gear for flying off pavement or grass when you're not near water. There is no functional water rudder on either version — steering on the water relies on differential thrust and rudder-in-airflow effect, which works, but isn't as precise as a dedicated water rudder.

Total cost to fly for most buyers ends up higher than the plane's own price tag once you factor in a 3S LiPo battery and, for the BNF version, a Spektrum-compatible transmitter if you don't already own one. If you're coming from a different brand's radio system, that's a real added cost worth budgeting for before you commit.

Build Quality & Durability

The airframe is Z-Foam, E-flite's proprietary composite-reinforced EPO. It holds detail well and takes a bump better than raw EPS, but it is not indestructible, and the amphibious hull design introduces a failure point that a standard land plane doesn't have: the hatch and fuselage seams.

Multiple owner reports describe water creeping in through the magnetic hatch and along seam lines after repeated water sessions — not catastrophic flooding, but enough to threaten servos and the ESC over time. The fix that shows up consistently across owner accounts is straightforward maintenance, not a redesign: seal the seams with silicone or CA, spray exposed servos and the motor with a corrosion inhibitor, bag the receiver in something waterproof, and dry the plane thoroughly after every flight. One Horizon Hobby owner review specifically noted four years of service on the plane with nothing worse than a couple of servo replacements and a motor/ESC upgrade — proof that with basic discipline, the airframe holds up fine long-term.

The often-repeated claim that EPO foam is "inherently water resistant" is technically true but misleading in practice — resistant is not the same as sealed, and the hatch is the weak point, not the foam itself.

One structural quirk worth flagging: the low-wing design means a wingtip can catch the water surface during a rough landing or a steep bank close to the water, occasionally dunking a wingtip servo. Some owners add small wingtip floats as cheap insurance against this.

Performance — Water Handling and Flight

In the air, the Icon A5 is calm and predictable, which is exactly what SAFE-assisted amphibious planes should be. It's not a plane built for loops and rolls — one long-term owner summed it up bluntly: "at the top of a loop it just flops over." If aerobatics are the goal, the smaller UMX Icon A5 was actually the more agile of the two Icon variants, though it's a different animal entirely (622mm, indoor/calm-air only, and no longer in production).

Water performance is where the Icon A5 earns both its fans and its complaints. On a breezy day with a bit of headwind, it breaks the water's surface tension and gets airborne without much drama. On dead-calm water, though, several owners report a real struggle to get the plane up on the step and off the surface — the plane simply doesn't have much excess power in reserve for that transition. Model Aviation's review traced at least some of these off-water failures to a reversed propeller rather than underpowering, which is worth checking before assuming the motor is at fault.

Two things make water handling trickier than it needs to be:

• No water rudder. Low-speed steering on the water depends on differential thrust and prop wash over the rudder, which is workable but imprecise, especially in any crosswind.
• Tip-stall tendency. The plane wants some speed under its wings before you pull back on the stick. Pulling up too early — a natural instinct right off the water — invites a stall.

The playbook that shows up again and again in owner accounts: take off and land into the wind whenever possible, don't rush the climb-out, and if you're landing in any chop, come in parallel to the wave troughs rather than across them to avoid digging a float or wingtip.

CG matters more than usual on this airframe — Horizon specifies 30–35mm behind the wing leading edge. A tail-heavy setup compounds the tip-stall tendency and can also cause porpoising (a bouncing, nose-diving motion) on the water. If you find the plane behaving strangely on takeoff, check CG before touching anything else.

Icon A5 vs FMS Kingfisher — Head-to-Head

With the E-flite Icon A5 discontinued at the manufacturer level, the FMS 1400mm Kingfisher is the most direct current alternative, and it's worth a straight comparison before you commit either way.

The Kingfisher isn't chasing the same scale-accuracy angle — it doesn't look like a real aircraft the way the Icon A5 does — but it's a more complete package for the money: three swappable gear sets, a functional water rudder, and a gyro included rather than optional. For a buyer whose priority is versatility over looks, it's the stronger pick in the current market.

If the Icon A5's styling is the whole point for you, that's a legitimate reason to still go after one on the used or new-old-stock market. Just go in knowing you're buying it for the livery, not for outright capability.

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Recommended Upgrades / Best Accessories

None of these are required to fly the plane, but they address the Icon A5's known weak points directly:

• Corrosion inhibitor spray for the motor, ESC, and servos — the single most effective defense against water-related electronics failures.
• Silicone or thin CA for hatch/seam sealing — cheap, five-minute prevention against the hatch leak issue owners report most often.
• A spare 3S 2200mAh 30C LiPo — flight time is short at roughly 10 minutes, and a second pack means you're not packing up after one lake pass. See our LiPo battery guide for sizing and connector notes before buying.
• Small wingtip floats — cheap insurance against a dunked wingtip servo during a rough water landing.
• Motor and ESC upgrade — a documented long-term owner path once the stock power system starts showing its age; see our motor sizing and ESC guide if you go this route.
• Replacement servos — the stock units are adequate but not exceptional; our servo guide covers appropriate torque and sizing for a plane this size.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion & Final Verdict

The E-flite Icon A5 1.3m earns its fans honestly: it looks like nothing else on the water, handles calmly with SAFE Select engaged, and holds up for years when owners treat the hatch seams and electronics with the respect a floatplane deserves. What it isn't is a versatile do-everything platform, an aerobatic performer, or — with Horizon Hobby's discontinuation — an easy plane to simply order fresh in 2026.

For pilots set on that specific Icon A5 look, tracking one down secondhand or through remaining dealer stock is still a reasonable call, provided you go in prepared for the maintenance routine and the missing water rudder. For everyone else asking "what's a good amphibious RC plane right now," the FMS Kingfisher's three interchangeable gear sets and included water rudder make it the more practical buy at a similar price point, and the Turbo Timber Evolution is the pick if aerobatic performance on floats is the actual goal.

Whichever direction you go, the fundamentals matter more than the plane: take off and land into the wind, respect your CG, and dry your electronics after every session on the water.

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