Berkeley grad develops revolutionary airplane

When Kirk Hawkins was a child in his mother's arms on an airplane trip, he turned from staring out the window.

"One day, Mama," he told her, "I'm going to land on the clouds."

Today, the Goose Creek native has the clouds in his hands. ICON Aircraft just unveiled a two-seater, amphibious, propeller plane with wings that fold up, so it can be carried on a trailer. It can be stored in the garage, and it can land in a field or near an island for afternoon pastime.

The idea is to make flying a handy, relatively affordable thrill like powerboats. It's novel enough that the ICON has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.

Hawkins, 40, is the Los Angeles company's founder, the man with a dream to put the adventurer in the pilot's seat.

He's a 1985 Berkeley High School grad who has jumped back and forth in the seats of powerboats, motor bikes, hang gliders and experimental aircraft and was always a little puzzled why airplanes weren't built for motor sports too.

"No, I never grew up in that respect," Hawkins said.

Read more in tomorrow's edition of The Post and Courier.