Unlike other hang gliders of the time, the Icarus was not steered by the pilot shifting his body weight.
Instead, Icarus I had two large rudders mounted near the wing tips, controlled by hand levers.
The Federal Aviation Administration recognized Icarus II as an ultra-light aircraft and issued Kiceniuk with the registration N55TK number for it.
[1] Kiceniuk set several endurance records with Icarus II and many copies were built from plans he sold.
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.
Many Icarus Vs were built from plans sold by Kiceniuk and it was also commercially produced by Free-Flight Systems, Inc. of Sylmar, California.