Kiceniuk Icarus V

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The Kiceniuk Icarus V was the fifth designed and third built in a series of hang gliders designed by Taras Kiceniuk, Jr..

Kiceniuk's Icarus I and Icarus II were revolutionary hang gliders. These were rigid biplane flying wings, with hand-controlled rudders, in which the pilot flew in a reclining position. This was at a time when most hang gliders were Rogallo wings that the pilot steered solely by shifting his body weight. Kiceniuk abandoned the designs for Icarus III and Icarus IV in favor of a monoplane configuration for Icarus V.

Icarus V was a swept wing, constant-chord, flying wing monoplane with a 32-foot span. Construction was of cable-braced aluminum tubing covered with fabric. The leading edge had foam sheet formed over aluminum ribs. It had an efficient high-lift airfoil giving it a glide ratio of 10:1, which was remarkable for a hang glider (Rogallo wings were hardly more than steerable parachutes with glide ratios of around 3:1). Icarus V had hanging winglet rudders and was flown in a reclining position.

Many Icarus Vs were built from plans sold by Kiceniuk and it was also commercially produced. The Icarus series, especially Icarus V, were instrumental in the development of the modern 'rigid wing' hang glider. Although its performance was astounding, the foldable, portable Rogallo flexible wings retained their popularity because the Rogallo wing dramatically reduced difficulty in storage, transport, assembly and repair. In addition, the flexible wing could always be redesigned to improve the performance far more easily than a rigid wing could be designed for portability. Hang gliders eventually evolved to a slender efficient wing like that of the Icarus V while retaining the portability of the Rogallo wing.

Kiceniuk's Icarus V from 1973 is one of eight ultralight aircraft displayed at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Tribute to Ultralight Pioneers exhibit at their AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.