Honda HA-420 HondaJet
The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is the first aircraft developed by Honda Aircraft Company. The light business jet was designed in Japan and then developed and manufactured in Greensboro, North Carolina in the United States.
Development
Honda began to study small sized business jets in the late 1980s, using engines from other manufacturers. The Honda SHM-1/MH01 turboprop tested laminar flow wings, and the Honda MH02 was fabricated and assembled at Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The MH02 was a prototype using carbon fiber/epoxy composite materials. Flight testing on the MH02 continued through 1996, after which the aircraft was shipped to Japan.
Designer Michimasa Fujino sketched the HondaJet in 1997, and the concept was locked in 1999. Testing in the Boeing windtunnel indicated a valid concept in 1999.
A proof-of-concept (but not production-ready) version of HondaJet first flew on 3 December 2003 at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. Honda approved commercial development of the HondaJet in 2004. The HondaJet made its world debut on 28 July 2005, at EAA AirVenture (Oshkosh Airshow). Honda announced on 25 July 2006 at Oshkosh Airshow that it would commercialize the HondaJet.
