Honda seems reinvigorated after its second win in the F1 Grand Prix championships while on two wheels, Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez claimed his fourth consecutive pole position at the British Grand Prix yesterday. The Japanese manufacturer of everything from cars to motorcycles, snow blowers, mountain bikes, generators, ATVs, robots, lawn mowers, outboard engines, hedge trimmers and inflatable boats is now celebrating the timely expansion of its HondaJet program after the aircraft was certified for use in China this month.
In the first half of 2019, HondaJet was the world’s biggest selling entry-level business jet with sales of over 130 in 65 countries including the U.S., Europe, Japan and now China. And according to one Honda source, the brand’s close relationship with 5-time 500cc road racing world champion Mick Doohan will soon see the aircraft's launch in his home country of Australia.
But HondaJet’s road has not been an easy one. While the Honda Aircraft Company, based in North Carolina, may have started production of HondaJet in 2015, it has taken well over 30 years in research and development to get to this stage.
Way back in 1986, Michimasa Fujino, aeronautical engineering graduate from Japan’s top college Tokyo University was given that unenviable job of heading up Honda’s fledgling new aircraft development arm. It turned out to be one the last projects green-lighted by the company’s enigmatic founder Soichiro Honda. After a decade of exhaustive research, calculations, design and testing in conjunction with the Mississippi State University Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, Fujino in 1997 came up with a concept sketch of what would become HondaJet.
By far the most innovative feature of this new aircraft is its radical over-the- wings engine mount (OTWEM) design. Employing two GE Honda HF120 turbofan engine mounted on pylons above the wings, the plane can cruise at altitudes of up to 43,000 feet, significantly higher than commercial airliners. Fujino’s low-drag aircraft nose design also raised eyebrows when it was learned that he had modeled the HondaJet’s nose shape on a Salvatore Ferragamo high heel shoe design he had spotted at a duty-free store in Hawaii.
While Fujino recalls that the industry showed considerable skepticism towards his unique design early on, his belief in the over-wing engine setup won the day when it was shown to provide better fuel consumption, less drag, less noise and less vibration being transferred to the cabin than other rival Cessnas and light business jets. It was the quietest aircraft of its type in the industry. The fact that he captured several major aviation awards, including the Business and Commercial Aviation Vision Award in 2008 and the Aircraft Design Award in 2012, was icing on the cake.
The plane’s spec sheet also impresses. Able to seat seven occupants including two pilots and five passengers, or four passengers and one attendant, the over-wing engine design means that this jet offers the most room and luggage capacity in its class. The only real downside is HondaJet’s cabin height, which measures in at just 4.83 feet, making it challenging for 6-foot tall passengers to visit the bathroom located in the back of the plane.
Top speed is 483 mph, maximum flying altitude is 43,000 feet and maximum range is 1,358 miles making HondaJet the fastest and highest cruising jet in its class, or so Honda tells us. And that unit cost of $5.2 million doesn’t seem to be affecting sales as the company battles to meet the strong demand.
