BizJet Industry Adds A New and Major Player

A long-awaited lfight, described last week as "imminent," has come off quite nicely. Confirmed by officials at the airport, Honda's experimental business jet prototype took to the skies Wednesday from Piedmont-Triad Airport in Greensboro, NC.

The Honda HF118-powered twin-jet flew for "over an hour" and apparently performed fairly well throughout an initial flight that was originally rumored to be set for December 17th (which was still being reported as late as yesterday, in the Japanese press). The Honda Jet is an interesting apparition, in that both its powerplants are mounted on vertical pylons atop each wing, instead of underneath them or attached to the rear of the fuselage, as we see in most other designs. This design feature has freed the cabin of a lot of hardware and allowed them to build a pretty spacious interior.

The 1670-pound-thrust (at takeoff) Honda-built HF-118 engines had been test-flown previously on a Citation test vehicle and exercised vigorously in Honda's ground test labs and facilities. Current industry-insider reports indicate that a possible aircraft product is the better part of four years away, while a joint venture (with a US company) may be in the offing for the powerplants.

The prototype uses a Garmin G-1000 Integrated EFIS system in the cockpit. The bird sports a composite fuselage and metal wings and tail feathers. It reportedly has a 9,200 pound MTOW, a 390-420 KT cruise speed, NBAA IFR Range of some 1100 nm and a service ceiling in the neighborhood of 44K.

Honda spokesman, Jeff Smith, has refused comment on the program for the moment. 

[ANN Thanks Marc Poole for the use of the beautiful rendering above... you can see more of Marc's amazing work at www.marcpoole.com/art.html]

FMI: www.honda.com