After an eight-month delay in engine certification, Honda Aircraft’s first jet is back on track for release.
The company recently announced that the jet’s GE Honda Aero HF120 engine is certified and it has received the FAA-issued Type Inspection Authorization (TIA). The certification process, which will ensure that the jet meets certain type design requirements before it is available for purchase, is almost complete.
Over the past few years, HondaJet flight test engineers have flown hundreds of hours in certification to test the aircraft, and the jet looks to be meeting promised levels of performance.
The jet carries six passengers and costs about $4.5 million. Upon certification, this light jet will be the fastest in its segment by about 15 knots and have a top cruising speed of 420 knots.
The HondaJet has a variety of other innovative features:
- A unique over-the-wing engine mount configuration that dramatically improves performance and fuel efficiency by reducing drag
- Two GE Honda HG120 turbofan jet engines, which are highly fuel-efficient
- A sophisticated ergonic flight deck with Honda-customized Garmin® G3000 next-generation avionics and 14-inch landscape-formatted displays and dual touch-screen controllers
- Nonstop flight for up to 1,180 nautical miles (for reference, it is 2,127 nautical miles from NYC to Los Angeles.)
There is just one final step necessary in the certification: FAA pilots must perform onboard flight testing.
And that’s not all the news for Honda Aircraft: Their customer service facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO) in Greensboro, N.C., also recently received FAA Part 145 approval.
Honda Aircraft expects to begin delivering the first HondaJets in early 2015.