The Icon A5 amphibious light sport aircraft(LSA) has been in the works since 2006, and now that the company is close to starting deliveries, a slew of similar amphibious aircraft (those able to operate from both and water) are emerging to compete for this market niche. Icon Aircraft was founded by Kirk Hawkins, a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and a graduate of Stanford Business School. He and his team designed the A5 to be appealing and easy to fly for first-time pilots, hoping to capture the attention o…