Sporting News
In 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) partnered with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and created the light sport aircraft category and the sport pilot license to appeal to the consumer recreational flying market. One year later, Kirk Hawkins, a former U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot and motocross racer, founded Icon Aircraft (www.iconaircraft.com) to capitalize on the new possibilities. The result is the A5, a $140,000 light sport aircraft five years in the making that will see its first deliveries later this year.

With an amphibious design, a lightweight carbon fiber airframe, and retractable wings that unfold to 34 feet, the A5 offers unprecedented versatility, especially considering that it requires only 750 feet of takeoff and landing space. A 20-gallon fuel tank accepts either aviation fuel or traditional automotive gasoline and can power the craft’s 100 hp Rotax engine for 345 miles. And because Hawkins designed the cockpit and controls to be intuitive and more carlike than planelike, the A5 is easier to fly than other single-engine aircraft.

To obtain a sport pilot license, you must have a valid driver’s license, English proficiency, and good health, and you must be at least 17 years old. To be credited to fly the A5, you must log at least 20 hours of in-flight training with the EAA (www.sportpilot.org), which costs between $2,800 and $3,500. A5 orders and deposits placed at the beginning of 2011 will secure a late 2014 delivery.

The Milky Way
Mount Rainier’s north face is home to Carbon Glacier, the largest glacier by volume—and at the lowest elevation—of any in the contiguous United States. The glacier flows over an active volcano, which has caused it to melt from within and create a cave of water. It is from this pool that Glacia Nova (www.seracwater.com) bottles its series of glacier waters.

But during the late summer months, when temperatures are at their highest, the glacier melts faster and breaks apart, grinding the crystallized mineral bedrock beneath it into a powder known as "mineral flour." This mineral flour mixes with the water, which gives it a milky white color, and produces glacial water that is rich in calcium, selenium, and silica. The melting phenomenon lasts only between two and six weeks, which means Glacia Nova can offer only a limited (and varying) number of its Serac Glacial Milk cases each season. "You never know what you’re going to get," says John Destito, the company’s CEO. "We know by September we have to be ready, and we bottle Serac for as long as we can and then it’s over."

Serac Glacial Milk is sold in cases of 12 20-ounce bottles for $96. But orders are filled based on seniority, and currently the company has a clientele list that exceeds 10,000, which means that new customers should cross their fingers for a long harvest next year.

The Suit That Made The Man
In 1970, Steve McQueen donned a two-piece, cream-colored Nomex racing suit, decorated with sponsor logos ranging from Gulf to Heuer to Firestone, for the filming of the 1971 movie Le Mans.

Toronto-based Collector Studio (www.collectorstudio.com), a gallery that has bought and sold original vintage racing memorabilia since 1991, recently acquired the original suit worn by McQueen and currently is accepting offers for it. According to gallery president Morry Barmak, the suit, which was donated by Solar Productions/MGM to the British newspaper Young Observer for a Le Mans–themed contest in 1971, "shows good signs of use and is fully documented."