HondaJet™
The Dream: Bring Personal Mobility to the Skies
"Many people see Honda as an automobile company, but Honda sees itself differently. From the founding of Honda more than 50 years ago, we have viewed ourselves as a mobility company … over the years, we continued to focus on creating new dreams for our customers - and harnessing advanced technology to provide new and better mobility for people."
-- Takeo Fukui, President and CEO, Honda Motor Co., Ltd
Why would a company that has developed vehicles for the road, the dirt, the race track and the water decide to enter the third, and perhaps most challenging, dimension of mobility, the skies above?
The answer lies both in Honda's ability to dream and its willingness to challenge to create innovative new products that advance the cause of human mobility.
The creation of HondaJet heralds a new era in Honda technological innovation. And like so many Honda products before it, HondaJet challenged conventional thinking to create a new standard for performance, comfort and quality in the field of advanced light jets.
Born from the dreams of Honda engineers and, now, Honda Aircraft Company President & CEO, Michimasa Fujino, HondaJet represents the discovery of a truly unique aircraft design that places the engines on top of the wings.
Fujino's idea was initially questioned because it defied conventional thinking. Most schools of thought believed that anything perched on the trailing edge of a wing would induce unacceptable drag, be too heavy, and would not support engine vibration or thrust loads.
But Fujino held tight to the dream, and in extensive wind tunnel testing, found that the placement of the engines in just the right position actually decreased drag relative to other empennage-mounted engine designs. And by placing the engines over the wings, the need for fuselage structural bracing for the engines was eliminated, thereby allowing a design that offers a significantly more spacious cabin for passengers, luggage, and a comfortable lavatory.
A complete original, designed from scratch from nose to tail, many other new materials and technologies were implemented as well, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and superior performance compared to other similarly sized jets.
HondaJet fulfills one of Honda's longstanding dreams to advance mobility through personal aviation. "I always thought that airplane design was a kind of art, and HondaJet is kind of my work of art," Fujino said, noting that his initial sketch was on the back of a calendar." So I did my best from concept sketch to final painting. I am lucky to have realized my concept and dream."