Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world producing more internal combustion engines than any other company. Revered by many for its cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, watercraft, ATVs, watercraft, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and even electrical generators; now, for the first time in its history, Honda will venture upwards. Yes that’s right, Honda Motor Company is trying to dominate the skies the same way it does land and water.
The idea of flight is anything but new to the Japanese giant. Honda began research into compact business jets in 1986 using engines from other manufacturers. However, in 2003, Honda Motor Company announced that its new experimental compact business jet equipped with Honda-developed engines, and sensibly dubbed HondaJet, successfully completed initial flight tests, to the great contentment of its developers. “Aviation has long been a dream for Honda, and the HondaJet is the embodiment of that dream,” says Michimasa Fujino, HondaJet project leader and vice president of Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
The perfection-obsessed Far Easterners didn’t just settle with the development of the airplane, they also established a subsidiary, Honda Aircraft Company Inc. (HACI), which will be fully-dedicated to the sale, development and promotion of its newborn jet. HACI established its 215,000 square foot headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 2005, HondaJet made its world debut and, in 2006, it started accepting orders. The plane was welcomed with overwhelming enthusiasm because, so far, it reached around 120 orders for the 3.65 million USD HondaJet aircraft. Delivery is expected around 2010. The appeal of the HondaJet does not lie in its ability to leap tall buildings, or areas for that matter, in a single bound. All aircrafts can do that (unless the pilot cheated on his tests). To call this jet a modern aircraft is truly an understatement.
With its patented over-the-wing engine-mount design, HACI was able to reduce drag and eliminate the need for engine mounts in the fuselage, creating over 30 per cent more cabin space. The state of the art engine itself, the HF118 Turbofan Engine, is able to give higher performance, lower emissions, a very long range of 2,037km/h, and high reliability thanks to Honda’s Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC). Moreover, after extensive wind-tunnel testing, engineers resorted to a natural-laminar flow (NLF) design of the fuselage and wing. They also used a combination of honeycomb sandwich structure and stiffened carbon composite panels in building the fuselage to reduce weight and manufacturing costs. In short, thanks to what is above, the HondaJet was able to achieve a 40 per cent increase in fuel efficiency, higher cruising speed of 748km/h and a bigger cabin.
The innovation also extends to the cockpit and cabin. The first uses an open-architecture Garmin G1000 glass cockpit – most readouts are presented on flat-panel displays – and takes into consideration extensive studies carried out on the human factors of pilots. As for the cabin that comfortably fits up to seven people, it is highly ergonomic and safe, with Honda’s meticulous attention to detail.
With a projected production of 70 aircrafts per year to owner-pilots, corporate travel operators and air taxi companies, HACI goals and intentions are clear. “We want to create new value within the aviation market through the unique new design of HondaJet,” Fujino says, “our goal is to deliver three key attributes – performance, quality and comfort – beyond what people currently expect from light business jets.”
Contact
Honda Aircraft Company, Inc
North Carolina, USA
Tel +1 888 453 5973
www.hondajet.honda.com
