Honda Jets: Born From Cars
If there ever will be a sequel to jet-gate (original brought to you by Brian Ross, yeah, that Brian Ross), Honda has a get-out-of-jail-free card. They just call it a proficiency flight.
Honda sees a great future in the business jet market. Their wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Honda Aircraft Co. has successfully completed the first flight of the production version of its HondaJet business aircraft, reports The Nikkei [sub].
The light business jet landed all in one piece after a 50 minute flight. After a series if other test flights, Honda will seek the FAA certification needed to sell the jet in the U.S.
Honda already has pre-orders for more than 100 of the $4.5 million aircraft that seats seven or eight people.
Honda is building a factory in Greensboro, North Carolina. First deliveries are expected in the second half of 2012.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Honda definitely has an intriguing offering in the HondaJet. It may not prove to be a game-changer in the market per se, but I think it will still be a very strong competitor to other light jets from Cessna and Embraer. I spoke with Honda Aircraft's Stephen Keeney at the 2008 National Business Aviation Association conference. The video below has some more details about the ideas behind the plane, and why Honda made the design decisions it did. Back then, the estimated pricetag was $3.9 million and certification was expected by the end of 2010. Given the state of the global economy since then, I'm impressed the program hasn't slipped more than it has. Different by Design: A HondaJet Update
Honda's too late to the game - the entire personal jet market is saturated and one of the most aerodynamically advanced models just went BK - Ed Swearingen's SJ-30. Beech, Cessna and Embraer have a lock due to their already in-place service and support. Once Honda figures out the true cost of this buildout they'll quietly shelve the project as "research". The last time someone from Japan tried this was Mitsubishi and their MU-2. Another quirky design (dinky, highly loaded wing with full-span flaps and spoilers for roll control), it was blazingly fast and built like a brick you-know-what. A few hundred still ply the skies with many a happy owner behind the yoke, and Mitsubishi still provides product support, even though production ended in the 1980s.