Icon Aircraft wants to make flying both more accessible and fun with its A5 amphibious airplane. But it also wants to make flying safer, and today it introduced an instrument that will provide pilots with critical information for a safe flight.

The California company has developed an angle of attack indicator for the A5 that quickly and clearly indicates the airplane’s wing position relative to the oncoming airflow. This important information, which is not usually found in most civil aircraft, is essential because it dictates when a wing “stalls” and no longer generates sufficient lift to maintain flight.

“The AoA gauge is an important reflection of how we think about flying and safety at Icon,” said company founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins. “Icon’s AoA gauge will make flying safer and more intuitive – and that in turn makes it much more fun.”

The importance of such information has been in the headlines in the wake of the July 6 crash of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco after the pilots allowed the Boeing 777 to fall well short of the ideal approach speed. But the airspeed is just a secondary way for the pilots keep an eye on the angle of attack, which is what dictates when an airplane wing stalls. Having a direct measurement is a better way to keep an eye on performance.

The device includes a simple cockpit display directly in front of the pilot, and is part of the company’s broader campaign of spin resistant design meant to significantly increase safety. Because a wing stalls at a critical angle of attack — and not airspeed — the display indicates where the wing is relative to that crucial angle. And it couldn’t be easier to read. If the pilot keeps the airfoil-shaped pointer in the green zone, there is minimal risk of stalling. As the wing’s angle of attack increases, the indicator moves closer to, and eventually enters, a yellow zone indicating a stall is approaching. The red zone indicates the wing has stalled and is no longer producing enough lift.

Angle of attack indicators are common in military aircraft, and there are some available for general aviation airplanes. But most civilian pilots are taught to use airspeed as the indicator of an approaching stall. In normal, straight and level flight conditions, stall speed correlates well with the critical angle of attack. The risk in this, however, is a wing can stall at any airspeed. In a banked turn, for example, the stall speed is higher than it is during level flight, and the pilot must know what the difference is because there are no instruments to indicate it. An angle of attack indicator is far more accurate, and reliable, because the angle of attack at which a wing stalls does not change and is not dependent upon bank angle, weight or other variables.

The angle of attack indicator is but one feature in Icon’s A5 amphibious airplane, which has fallen behind the company’s initial schedule for delivering airplanes. Icon continues working with the Federal Aviation Administration on a weight exemption so it still meets the light sport aircraft category, which has a simplified licensing process for pilots. The company argues that its other major safety advance, a spin resistant wing, warrants a 250 pound gross weight increase in the light sport aircraft category. The agency spent more than a year deliberating the request — much longer than it usually takes for similar exemptions. The FAA asked Icon to provide more information about its design and the need for a gross weight increase. The scuttlebutt within the aviation industry is an announcement might come at Airventure, the big aviation show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin later this month.

The light sport aircraft category, introduced in 2004, provides simplified certification process for aircraft and simplified licensing process for pilots. Land-based LSA airplanes can have just two seats, a top speed of less than 120 knots (138 miles per hour) and a gross weight of less than 1,320 pounds. Amphibious LSAs can weigh up to 1,430 pounds to accommodate the heavier landing gear. Icon is requesting an additional weight increase for its spin resistant design.