When the earth was violently shaken in the March 2011 quake of Fukushima, it had greatly affected Honda’s Tochigi Proving Ground in the Saitama prefecture. Cars were thrown and scattered about as the ground gave way to massive tectonic plate movements far beneath humanity. Many may not know this, but Tochigi has always been a very special part to Honda for its R&D contributions towards Honda’s endless global advancement for the human race.Honda is one of the world's largest auto makers and also a multifaceted organization of incredible diversity. Today, Honda is taking another leap forward just months after the quake devastation; Honda is launching their newest achievement, their newest conquest; the Honda Jet. And if you’re thinking I am writing from the perspective of a Honda fan - well after almost a year of owning the Honda Elysion MPV, you are right; I am a Honda fan now!Honda is celebrating a great high point in its undertaking to become the only automaker to manufacture and sell airplanes along with selling cars. Well, yes admittedly they are not the first, but they are the only one in existence today that makes and sells both. Rolls Royce don’t make aircraft, they just make engines and even that too, Rolls Royce Motorcars Germany (owned by BMW now) and Rolls Royce Aero Engines PLC (a British government GLC) are two entirely different entity and operations. SAAB Scania is no longer making cars today (and they don’t make aero engines anyway), while Volvo Flygmotor only makes aero engines for SAAB aircrafts. So only Honda holds the trophy today!After several delays, the first FAA-conforming example of the USD$4.5 million Honda Jet has begun test flights for FAA Type certifications in Greensboro North Carolina. FAA Type Certifications consist of design approvals, air worthiness test and all safe maximum permissible operating characteristic. Earlier, the Honda Jet had some issue with their “Rotor Burst Zone” safety design. But it has been ironed out and the FAA has made special provision for this Honda Jet. The FAA considers the new Honda Jet to have: “a novel and unusual design features not typically associated with normal, utility, acrobatic, and commuter category airplanes. These design features include turbofan engines and engine location, for which the applicable regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate airworthiness standards”.The Honda Model HA-420 Honda Jet is indeed an all new, very light jet (micro business jet), twin turbo fan jet engine, high performance, low wing (aft over-wing design) aircraft, in the normal category including flight into known icing conditions, Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) and also for a single pilot operations rating (just like in the Sino Swearingen Fan Jet SJ-30). The Model HA-420 Honda Jet design criteria includes: a 9963 pounds maximum gross weight, an estimated maximum speed of 258 KIAS/0.72 Mach, a cruise speed of 420 KTAS (489 MPH) at 30,000 feet, and a 43,000 feet maximum flight ceiling while maintaining an 8,000 feet cabin pressure. This point is especially an important factor to consider, the less cabin pressure in "feet" readings, means that passengers would feel less tiresome especially on long flights.
The engine is being jointly developed in a 50/50 partnership between Honda Motors wholly owned company Honda Aero, and General Electrics of America. Each Honda HF118/120 turbofan engine produces 2,050 pounds of static thrust (lbst) at takeoff. The radical design was from the inspiration of Honda Aircraft Company CEO Michimasa Fujino, who was on hands in Greensboro for the testing. The lightweight composite fuselage features natural laminar flow, and the wings are aluminum with single-piece skins. The twin engines are perched above the wings, and directly over the top section which has resulted in a reduced structural weight (wing loading), give better protection against debris ingestion, and allows for shorter, lighter landing gear. Honda expects as much as 20 percent fuel-efficiency superiority versus conventional jets. The jet will be produced in a newly completed Greensboro factory at an anticipated rate of up to 100 per year and as of now; all 100 have been spoken for with more orders on demand. As it did with motorcycles, and then with cars, Honda is starting this venture with a carefully thought-out, well-engineered, and methodically established product that many aviation industry observers expect would have an influence on the aircraft industry. Airbus did it with their all composite wing sections, Boeing did it with their bent-up winglet that has substantially reduced if not diminished all negative vortex effect in cruise, and now could Honda be starting something with their twin engine placement concept? Only time will tell!Here is some history whereby auto makers had ventured into aero engines or even wholesome and complete aircraft production. Many do not know this, but Lotus had once produced aero engines that had worked remarkably well powering their light aircrafts in the early 1980’s. Maybe they would once again return to their “aero and wings” section some day ahead.Alfa built aircraft engines of its own design in the 1920s and 1930s. It produced Daimler-Benz V-12 engines under license during World War II.Rolls-Royce Group, the second-largest builder of aircraft engines in the world, started as an airplane-engine builder during WWI before producing their first car the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in 1906.Bavarian Motor Works started out as a manufacturer of aircraft engines and branched out into cars after WWI, the Junkers of WWII, and went full fledged after “acquiring” Borgward in the mid 1960’s. BMW has maintained some involvement in jet engines, including a relationship with Rolls-Royce, which helped in the acquisition of the Rolls-Royce name and logo. For a while they had produced the BMW/RR 700 Series Aero Engines.Among myriad aviation exploits, Fiat powered the fastest propeller-driven seaplane ever built, which hit 424 mph in 1933 during the Mussolini era.Ford was a leading producer of airliners in the 1920s. The corrugated-aluminum skins aircraft seem to have made them immune to metal fatigue.Responding to Great Britain's desperate need for fighter aircraft during WWII, GM's North American Aviation designed, built, and flew the P-51 Mustang in an incredible 150 days. These legendary Mustangs flew alongside the Speed Fire Mark IX in the Battle of Britain.Lotus developed an engine for small sporty aircraft in the early 1980s. It ran well but was never put into production, presumably because of company founder Colin Chapman’s passing.Most WWII German fighter planes were powered by Mercedes-Benz 600-series V-12 engines. The firm also built engines for Zeppelins, including the ill-fated Hindenburg.Remember the Kamikaze dive bombers? Well, those are the Mitsubishi AM-02 Zero Fighter. Many are still lying in the waters off Pearl Harbor today…Louis Renault was extremely interested in the pioneering French aviators and established an aviation department in 1907. Renault built V-12 aircraft engines until the 1950s for French military transports.The Vigen I, II and III were all testament to SAAB aero abilities. But it was Volvo Flygmotor who built their engines…
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