the Angie’s List Blue House Blog

I’ve always been fascinated with vehicles and the vast number of designs humans have devised to achieve rapid, efficient, or just plain fun transport. To be fair, simple methods of transporting oneself such as walking, swimming, or climbing have their benefits, but in my opinion, they get old (though maybe if I was Spiderman or Superman, I’d think differently.) For us non-superhumans, though, there are few cooler things in life than the ability to ride a motorcycle, drive a car, or fly a plane (read on to find out what’s pictured below.)

Unfortunately, most methods of transportation are based on the internal combustion engine, which we all know requires gasoline and spews all kinds of nastiness into the air. But until our cities offer more widespread mass-transit options, until cars become more affordable and earth-friendly, and until innovative bikes like Puma’s glow-in-the-dark, foldable Stealth Visibility come down in price, I’ll be content with my current (and affordable) fleet: a ‘95 Nissan Quest minivan (or “dogmobile”) not yet near death at over 175,000 miles; an ‘86 Yamaha FZX700 Fazer motorcycle (one of the first “naked” bikes); and a red ‘07 Electra Rally Sport cruiser bicycle (a single-speed, which is less than optimal to ride to work on.)

And though I’m no mechanic, pilot, or lottery winner, I’ve set my sights on a possible addition to my transportation options (in my dreams, at least): the Jetson-esque Icon A5 (above), a plane I had the pleasure of viewing in person at last week’s EAA AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Though it costs more than the house I live in, it’s relatively affordable for a plane that can take off from and touch down on land and water. It doesn’t have much space, but in a plane with a sports-car-like interior, foldable wings (you can tow the thing on a trailer and keep it in your garage!), and gas mileage that I calculated to be better than many SUV’s (it runs on both aviation AND automotive gasoline), lack of space for my golf clubs isn’t something to complain about (though my three dogs might argue otherwise.)

All I need now is $5,000 for a down payment and a good aviation mechanic. I’m working on the former, and hopefully I can find the latter on Angie’s List, just like I found my auto, bicycle and motorcycle mechanics. I have plenty of time to find my future plane’s mechanic: the A5 won’t be mass-produced for another two years or so. This should also give me enough time to save some money, sell my house and figure out how to live in a small, two-person aircraft…