HondaJet Receives Provisional Type Certification

[evansb]

HondaJet Receives Provisional Type Certification from the U.S. FAA.


The HondaJet Receives Provisional Type Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration | Business Wire (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150327005821/en/HondaJet-Receives-Provisional-Type-Certification-Federal-Aviation#.VRcgBfnF-Sp)

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/HondaJet.jpg

[AdamFrisch]

I'm rooting for the HondaJet. I think it looks great and has good performance on paper. I hope it does well.

[onetrack]

It's a pretty impressive clean-sheet design with a lot of new cutting-edge technology, and I'll wager Honda has sunk some serious amounts of dollars into the project.
The bottom line will be whether sales will match expectations, and whether Honda will actually make any money out of the production of what is still a very limited and exclusive item, that generally only flourishes in numbers during booming economic periods.
I would expect Honda have poured substantial amounts of funds into their marketing division for the aircraft, because this type of product needs to be pushed hard, to generate the sales that are required to keep their aviation operation profitable.
Then again, Honda could also be looking at cross-subsidisation of their aviation division from the generally-more-profitable car and motorbike production.

[Sydy]

Took a long time since the 2003 first flight...

[stilton]

I don't think Honda will ever turn a profit on this program but that's not a concern for them at the moment


They have a long, long term agenda to become a respected aerospace manufacturer and they will get there.


Judging by the quality of every Honda i've owned !

[Romaro]

All rather quiet on the certification front, what's up? Will it be in the bag by NBAA? Icing, brakes, field performance, crosswinds etc. - tell us more?

[Cambridge172]

It got there at last, certified last week. Deliveries start now!

[tuna hp]

I'll wager Honda has sunk some serious amounts of dollars into the project.

I keep reading a $1.5 BILLION number in articles, for example here:

Forbes Welcome (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryncreedy/2015/12/14/hondajet-the-one-to-beat-changes-the-business-aviation-aircraft-market/)

If that's true, and its being repeated widely, then of course this program is already a massive failure for Honda. They will never turn a profit in this program, not if they're building HondaJet derivatives for 30 years.

But the fact that they devoted that quantity of resources to this project could indicate that Honda has farther reaching intentions in the private jet market, which I think would be great. There are too few players, the industry could use another company with new products to make them sweat. Especially with Bombardier imploding up north.

[Cambridge172]

Pretty sure there will be a family of jets of course, growing in size, perhaps a new model every five years for the next 15 years. However, it will take all of those fifteen years before any sign of a return on the investment

[Pace]

Honda have taken a long time over this jet and never seemed in a rush to have the aircraft in production.

Maybe partially due to the world recession and releasing the jet at the right time.
Honda always get things right and without doubt this will be right.

I don't know the performance figures. Obviously it has the engines mounted above the wings which will partially protect the engines from stone ingestion but what is the design concept and how will this jet be better than other equivalent light jets from the likes of Embraer and Cessna ?
What was the thinking in placing the engines on the wing rather than tail mounted? They will be further out than tail mounted causing a bigger yaw on engine failure ( marginally )

I have no doubts the engineering quality will be up with the best

Pace

[Chesty Morgan]

Sounds great.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XM9cXN5Bsng

[Pace]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9hHJ3_2Siw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXFTU53OuWg

Very nice )) oh well when the lottery comes up
Maybe Eclipse should look at this interior technology and finish ((

Pace

[CaptainProp]

What was the thinking in placing the engines on the wing rather than tail mounted?

Less vibrations and noise in the cabin? Less aerodynamic interference on airflow going in to engine giving better efficiency and less drag?

A friend has earlyish serial number on order so I'll report back once delivered :E:ok:

CP

[JohnFTEng]

Also:
* No carry through structure so simple fuselage that is lighter and has more usable space
* Wing bending moment relief

[controlx]

Wonder how the orders will start coming in now and what capacity they have to play catch-up by ramping-up production rates after such a long wait. They seem to have had approximately '100 orders' for several years with no increase on that number. After a 10 year window to capture orders, it would seem for every new one ordered, there must have been someone who pulled out due to the delays. Field performance will be interesting, not a lot said on that front.

[Pace]

I wonder also what maintenance facilities they will have in place worldwide?
Competing with the likes of the Phenom and Cessna M2 where especially with Cessna there is a large network of maintenance facilities.
i don't know what Hondas plans are ?

Pace

[Journey Man]

Cessna has a large maintenance network for a reason... :E

[onetrack]

Less than 2.5hrs endurance is not going to be a big selling point.
That for me, means I couldn't make it to my nearest capital city without refueling (YPPH-YPAD) :(
It's a long way back down from FL43 just to top up the tanks. :(
Ah well .. I suppose one would be out of caviar and champagne after that length of time, anyway. :)