Born From Cars

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: April 1st, 2011

All Japanese car companies need a little good news to cheer them up. Honda has reason to smile a little. Honda’s business jet in Greensboro, NC, is a step further to production. Honda says its first FAA-conforming HondaJet light business jet achieved a maximum speed of 489 mph at 30,000 ft. and a maximum Mach number of 0.72 above 30,000 ft. This exceeds Honda’s performance commitment of 483 mph for the production HondaJet.

Flight testing of theHondaJet is taking place at Honda Aircraft Company’s headquarters in Greensboro, NC.

Honda is building a 263,400 sqft factory in Greensboro and expects to start production in 2012. According to The Nikkei [sub], they already have more than 100 orders for the fastest Honda ever built.

#BertelSchmitt #Honda #HondaJet #Japan

Bertel Schmitt

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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3 of 41 comments

Pete Zaitcev on Apr 02, 2011

We forgot the most important question: does it have a porty?

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- Dimwit on Apr 02, 2011
  
  Yes it does. As for the engine design, don't forget about NVH. Twins are generally much quieter than singles. A lot of these will be bought by back seat drivers who appreciate a nice calm cabin, not Chuck Yeagers who would obsess over performance at all costs. I think that this thng is going to sell like gangbusters.
  
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Zeus01 on Apr 02, 2011
"Some people prefer two engines others prefer one. The King Air is still selling despite great single engine competitors such as the TBM 850 and Pilatus PC 12. For some having two “turning and burning” is the preferred way. In any case I really don’t think Honda missed the mark but if it’s my dollars I’ll take the Socata or Pilatus over most of the VLJ’s." Agreed. As long as most of Honda's competition in the VLJ category sells only single-engine jets Honda will have no problem selling their twin-engine jets to that large portion of VLJ buyers who want the extra insurance against the rather negative consequences of an engine failure. As for the Pilatus or Socata, I personally would probably choose one of these (in spite of the added risk) if the purchase and operating costs were considerably less than that of the Honda jet. The jet would be faster of course. But, considering the short-range flights that private jets and turboprops are typically used for, if I could eliminate one en-route fuel stop with the PC-12 vs. the Honda jet the higher speed of the jet would be rendered a moot point.

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