Honda HA-420 HondaJet

HA-420 HondaJet
HondaJet in flight at Oshkosh in 2011
Role	Business jet
National origin	Japan United States
Manufacturer	Honda Aircraft Company[1]
First flight	3 December 2003
Status	FAA Type Certificate[2]
Number built	5[3]
Unit cost	US$4.5 million [1]

The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is the first aircraft developed by Honda Aircraft Company. The light business jet was designed in Japan and then developed and manufactured in Greensboro, North Carolina in the United States.^[4]

Contents

Development

Honda began to study small sized business jets in the late 1980s, using engines from other manufacturers. The Honda SHM-1/MH01 turboprop tested laminar flow wings,^[5] and the Honda MH02 was fabricated and assembled at Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The MH02 was a prototype using carbon fiber/epoxy composite materials.^[6] Flight testing on the MH02 continued through 1996, after which the aircraft was shipped to Japan.

Designer Michimasa Fujino sketched the HondaJet in 1997, and the concept was locked in 1999. Testing in the Boeing windtunnel indicated a valid concept in 1999.^[5][7]

A proof-of-concept (but not production-ready) version of HondaJet first flew on 3 December 2003 at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.^[8] Honda approved commercial development of the HondaJet in 2004.^[9] The HondaJet made its world debut on 28 July 2005, at EAA AirVenture (Oshkosh Airshow).^[10] Honda announced on 25 July 2006 at Oshkosh Airshow that it would commercialize the HondaJet.^[11]

The production aircraft are built at Piedmont Triad Airport. Construction of the factory began in 2007 and was completed in late 2011.^[12][13] The first FAA-conforming^{[clarification needed]} (built to Federal Aviation Administration rules) HondaJet achieved its first flight on 20 December 2010.^[14] First flight of the production HondaJet occurred on 27 June 2014,^[15][16][17] and the plane was flown and shown at Oshkosh Airshow on 28 July 2014.^[18][19][20] Four HondaJets have testflown 2,500 hours as of 2015.^[21]

HondaJet got "Provisional FAA Certification" in March 2015, enabling continued production^[2][22][23] and demonstration flights, but not customer delivery.^[24][25] The factory assembly line is at full capacity at 12 planes,^[23] however 20 planes were in production by May 2015.^[26]

With the engine factory having achieved certification in March 2015,^[23][27] the aircraft's certification was targeted to be in the first quarter of 2015,^[28][29] however that came on 8 December 2015.^[30]

HondaJet toured Japan and Europe in 2015.^[26]

The Honda Jet Debut came during the Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Jet Center, 13 August 2015 at Monterey Airport, in Monterey, California.^[31]

Design

Several engine-over-the-wing aircraft have been tested, for various reasons. The configuration was used on seaplanes such as Dornier Do X from 1929 and Beriev Be-200, and also used on the VFW-Fokker 614, a 44-seat German airliner, in the early 1970s. The VFW-614 was designed for eliminating ingestion problems and weight. Others include NASA's Quiet Short-Haul Research Aircraft around 1980 and Burt Rutan's 8-place businessjet Triumph in 1988.

The HondaJet’s over-the-wing engine mount configuration was designed to maximize cabin space,^[5] and for achieving lower wave drag at a high Mach number. The nose and wing are designed for laminar flow, and the main fuselage has a constant profile, making an eventual stretch easier. The combination of engine placement, wing and fuselage was achieved using computer simulations and wind tunnels.^[7][32] Honda claims that the combination of lightweight materials, aerodynamics and efficient engines gives the HondaJet up to 20% better fuel efficiency than similar aircraft.^[33]

Honda began developing its own small turbofan engine, the HF118, in 1999. This led to the HF120, developed with GE Aviation under the GE-Honda partnership. The HF120 was test-flown on a Cessna Citation CJ1.^[34] The engine features a single fan, a two-stage compressor and a two-stage turbine. The GE Honda HF120 received FAA type certification on 13 December 2013,^[35] and production certification in 2015.^[23][27]

The passenger area is 5.43 m (17.80 ft) long and has an enclosed toilet. The semi-round cabin is 12.1 ft long, 1.52 m (5.00 ft) wide, and 1.46 m (4.80 ft) high.^[36][37]

The aircraft is equipped with a touchscreen 3-display Garmin G3000^[12] glass cockpit system (i.e. most of the cockpit readouts are presented on flat-panel displays).

Fujino received the 2014 ICAS award for the design^[38] as well as Aviation Industry Leader of the Year Award.^[39]

In 2014, the plane was awarded 'Best of What's New' title by Popular Science magazine.

The US Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the airworthiness certificate for the HA-420 was approved on December 8, 2015.^[40]

Specifications

Data from Honda Aircraft Company^[36]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 or 2
• Capacity: 4-6
• Length: 12.99 m (42 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 12.12 m (39 ft 9 in)
• Height: 4.54 m (14 ft 11 in)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,173 kg (9,200^[41] lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × GE Honda HF120 turbofan, 9.12 kN (2,050 lbf) thrust each
• Bypass ratio: 2.9

Performance

• Maximum speed: 778 km/h; 483 mph (420 kn)
• Cruising speed: 483 km/h (300 mph; 261 kn) ^[2]
• Range: 2,185 km (1,358 mi; 1,180 nmi) with four occupants
• Service ceiling: 13,106 m (43,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 20.27 m/s (3,990 ft/min)
• Take-off distance: < 4,000 feet (1,200 m) ^[42]
• Landing distance: < 3,000 feet (910 m) ^[42]
• Fuel capacity: 2,300 pounds (1,000 kg)^[43][44]
• Cabin altitude: 8,000 feet (2,400 m) at 44,000 feet (13,000 m)^[7]