Honda HA-420 HondaJet

Infobox Aircraft
name = Honda Jet
type = Civil passenger jet
manufacturer = Honda Motor Company & Honda Aircraft Company


thumb
caption =
designer = Michimasa Fujino
first flight = 3 December 2003
introduced = First delivery projected for 2010
retired =
status = Undergoing.
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 2 prototypes
unit cost = US$ $3.65 million
variants with their own articles =

The HondaJet is the first aircraft developed by the Honda Motor Company that will be made available to the general aviation market. The HondaJet made its maiden flight in December 2003 and was debuted to the public at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July 2005. On July 25, 2006, Honda returned to Oshkosh to announce it would commercialize the HondaJet, establishing the Honda Aircraft Company to seek both type and production certification of the HondaJet with production to take place in the United States. The company began taking customer orders for HondaJet in the fall of 2006, and estimates deliveries to begin in 2010 at a price of approximately $3.65 million US. The plan is to build 70 jets per year.

In August 2006 Honda and Piper Aircraft announced a partnership to market the HondaJet. [http://www.ainonline.com/Issues/09_06/09_06_honda_12.htm]

In May 2008, Honda F1 driver Jenson Button announced that he had ordered two HondaJets, to be delivered in 2012, in start of his own aviation company to provide charter flights for business. [http://world.honda.com/news/2008/c080520Begins-European-Sales-HondaJet/]

Development

Honda began research into small sized business jets in the late 1980s, using engines from other manufacturers. The Honda MH02, an organic matrix composite prototype, was fabricated and assembled at Mississippi State University's [http://www.ae.msstate.edu/rfrl/pages/hondajet.html] Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This research led to Honda developing its own small turbofan jet engine, the HF118, in 1999. This led to the evolution of the HF120, which was developed with GE-Aviation under the GE Honda partnership, and was test-flown on a Cessna Citation and on a modified Boeing 727-100. The engine features a single fan, a two-stage compressor and a two-stage turbine. Further design testing on wing shape and design were done on a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, modified by AVTEL Services, Inc, and flight tested at the Mojave Airport. The HondaJet made its first flight on December 3, 2003 at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, and its first public presentation was on July 28, 2005 at EAA's AirVenture Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Features

Honda decided to go with an unusual over-the-wing podded engine configuration, a feature developed on the Fokker VFW-614 decades earlier, which allows for more space within the fuselage and reduction of drag at higher speeds. The fuselage itself is made from lightweight composite materials, while the wings are made from structurally reinforced single sheets of aluminum. The use of a single sheet allows for a smoother surface than more conventional methods. Honda claims that the combination of lightweight materials, aerodynamics and the efficient engines gives the HondaJet a 30-35% higher fuel efficiency than similar aircraft.

The aircraft is equipped with a Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system (i.e. most of the cockpit readouts are presented on flat-panel displays).

pecifications (HA-420 HondaJet)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= jet
ref= {Honda Aircraft Company}
crew= Two crew members
capacity= 5 passengers
length main= 41.70 ft (12.71 m)
length alt=
span main= 39.87 ft (12.15 m)
span alt=
height main= 13.21 ft (4.03 m)
height alt=
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main= 644lbs.
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 4,173 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 9,200 lb
more general=

engine (jet)=GE Honda HF120
type of jet=turbofan engines
number of jets= 2
thrust main= 1,880lbf each (Bypass Ratio= 2.9)
thrust alt= 8.04kN
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main=
afterburning thrust alt=

max speed main= 420 KTAS/778 kmh (483 mph)
max speed alt=
cruise speed main= 420 KTAS
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 1400 nm/1611 mi (VFR Range)
range alt= 2,593 km
ceiling main= 43,000 ft
ceiling alt= 13,107 m
climb rate main= 3990 ft/min
climb rate alt= 20.27 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
avionics=Garmin G1000 glass cockpit

References

External links

* [http://hondajet.honda.com/ Official HondaJet Website]
* [http://world.honda.com/HondaAircraftCompany/ Honda Aircraft Company]
* [http://world.honda.com/HondaJet/ HondaJet website]
* [http://world.honda.com/news/2003/c031216_2.html Honda Press Release: Flight Tests of Honda Experimental Business Jet Begin]
* [http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c060725HondaJet/ Honda Press Release: Honda to Begin Sales of Very Light Jet – “HondaJet”]
* [http://gehonda.com/ GE Honda Aero Engines]
* [http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=401 Airliners.net: The Honda HA-420 HondaJet]
* [http://www.aopa.org/pilot/features/2005/feat0508.html Behind the Curtain] - AOPA Online
* [http://www.ae.msstate.edu/rfrl/pages/hondajet.html Mississippi State University Raspet Flight Research Laboratory]
* [http://www.elmoreeda.com/News/frmArticle.aspx?NewID=1007 GKN Aerospace to produce fuselage for HondaJet]

ee also

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