Honda Achieves First Flight of FAA-Conforming HondaJet

[myhui]

I think Honda doesn't need F1 anymore. F1 needs Honda now.

Honda Achieves First Flight of FAA-Conforming HondaJet

I am eagerly awaiting my Fit EV with Android tablet installed in the dash, linked full time via cell tower to my smartphone.

 

[joove]

Pretty cool. This is an awesome effort from Honda. The airframe itself takes a lot of design power, they seem to be doing their own powerplant as well. Really impressive engineering effort.

When it comes to flying, you know that reliability is all. Imagine someone having to choose between a Ferrari built plane and a Honda built one .

edit: Looks like the powerplant is a GE Honda hybrid (http://world.honda.com/news/2009/c091019GE-Honda-HF120-engine/).

 

[NSXrebel]

Now will they bring the Si version to US? We know we won't get the Type R. :tongue:

 

[SFDreamer]

Whoa, had no clue they were even in that market.

 

[NSXrebel]

Whoa, had no clue they were even in that market.

Yeah, they'be been working on this since 2006 or somewhere around that time frame I think. Maybe even before that.

 

[shawn110975]

yeah i think the US version will be the DX with roll down windows and no a/c LOL and GPS is not standard.

we always get the lower end versions of everything.

I think its Our government will not let them.

 

[queenlives]

way cool, congrats to honda.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Honda Jet; a long and winding road

This final version looks good and is probably a screaming bargain at $4.5 mill.

Whoa, had no clue they were even in that market.

It is a resurrection of a project or projects developed in fits and starts for years. Ideas for airplanes and engines were rattling around inside Honda in the '80's. They actually settled on a plan in the late '90's and flew a prototype back in '03, I think. Then it appeared to be put on the shelf for a few years.

Back in '03-05, some of us were discussing how the Honda jet, like the 2nd gen NSX, was an example of how far Honda can go with a project before scuttling it.

IMHO, it all boiled down to the Honda principals being an odd collection of maverick entrepreneurs who individeually championed their own favorite projects. Consequently, progress on those individual projects ebbed and flowed like politics in Washington DC. Which was all the reason I needed to know why the 2nd gen NSX never got finished.

But that was then, this is now. Looks like they'll finish this project and it could be great. I've been out of the loop. Is the Honda organization different now?

 

[BD]

Now will they bring the Si version to US? We know we won't get the Type R. :tongue:

We'll get the CR version...lol

 

[myhui]

We'll get the CR version...lol

And certainly not the Type Zero version ... sigh.

 

[kookoo4nsx]

For those that put their $100,000.00 deposits down 4 years ago
Just profited 5-10x their money.

 

[ALau99]

NICE! This is very good for Honda!

 

[CL65 Captain]

When it comes to flying, you know that reliability is all.

Nope. Cost :biggrin: They have some very heavy competition from some long term players in the light jet category.
Cruise speed of 420 kts isn't too bad for a small jet - that puts cruise some where around 400kts. That's about mach 0.68. (most airline jets cruise around 0.77 which is 460kts). Range is a little iffy at 1180 nm, but comparable to others in the small jet class. It's about $1.5 mil more than a Citation Mustang, but the one thing Cessna has going is service centers EVERYWHERE. I'm not sure how Honda is going to swing the service network. And crap in airplanes break. All the time. And don't tell me that the little Honda is going to be super reliable. Bombardier, Gulfstream, Beech, Hawker, Dessault, and Cessna have been doing this for a long, long time and it takes quite a while to work bugs out of new planes even for them. We were the launch customer for the Canadair CRJ100 and it was 2+ years before most of the bugs were worked out. And that design was basically a stretched Challenger which they have been flying for years.

I wish Honda luck. They still have a long road ahead in this industry (which I wouldn't wish on anyone. )

 

[myhui]

Sixteen months later, after a forced redesign due to failure in a test ...

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/05/16/with-latest-test-flight-honda-nears-first-jet-deliveries/tab/print/

May 16, 2012, 4:00 PM ET.

WSJ : With Latest Test Flight, Honda Nears First Jet Deliveries.

Honda Motors Co. said its Honda Aircraft Co. unit completed the first flight of its latest test aircraft, marking another step in bringing the small HondaJet to market.

The aircraft, dubbed F3, is the fourth so-called FAA-conforming plane the company has built. It is meant to be used mainly for testing avionics and electrical systems in flight as the design makes its way to the federal certification required before it can be sold to customers.

The 74-minute test flight began at Honda Aircraft Co.’s headquarters at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C. It reached an altitude of 11,500 feet and a speed of 313 knots true air speed, or KTAS in pilot-speak.

Honda said earlier test planes have already met or exceeded its performance goals including a maximum speed of 420 KTAS, maximum cruise altitude of 43,000 feet and a climb rate of 3,990 feet per minute. The company referred to the jet as a “sports car in the sky.”

Honda has said it plans to begin delivering the plane to customers later this year with a sticker price of about $4.5 million.​

http://hondajet.honda.com/news/