"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/30/2014 at 08:40 • Filed to: Planelopnik
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/30/2014 at 08:40 • Filed to: Planelopnik | 6
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The first production HondaJet, the car maker's foray into the world of private aviation, has taken it's maiden flight. The 84-minute flight took place near the headquarters of the car giant's aviation division headquarters in Greensboro, NC. Certification and delivery of the HondaJet is expected next year. Priced at $4.5M, the plane seats up to five passengers, can cruise at a maximum speed of 483 miles per hour and has a ceiling of 43,000 feet. A press release from Honda quoted the pilot as saying that the flight was uneventful, adding that VTEC did indeed kick in, yo.
Photo via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> ttyymmnn
06/30/2014 at 08:46 |
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How long has this been in development?
The Transporter
> ttyymmnn
06/30/2014 at 09:01 |
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I think I can see my house in that picture.
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ttyymmnn
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
06/30/2014 at 09:05 |
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The very first HondaJet made its maiden flight in 2003. This is the first production aircraft. I was a bit confused at first, thinking, "Hasn't this thing been flying for a while now?" So yes, they've been working on it for quite a while.
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Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> ttyymmnn
06/30/2014 at 09:06 |
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How successful do you think it's going to be?
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ttyymmnn
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
06/30/2014 at 09:08 |
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I have no idea. Jayhawk Jake could probably answer that better than I. But I think the concept is valid and the size is right for those wanting jet power without a big plane. I have no idea how the prices competes with the rest of the market. But Honda is a pretty savvy company. I imagine they know what they're doing.
Jayhawk Jake
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
06/30/2014 at 09:50 |
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Marginally.
If you had asked that back in, oh, 2005/2006 shortly after the original prototype flew (2003), I would have said it was going to be a tremendous hit. After the recession and subsequent spontaneous combustion of the general aviation market though, demand for aircraft in this segment is pretty low.
There are 3 jets in the class now: The Embraer Phenom 100, the Cessna Citation M2, and the HondaJet. There's also the Citation Mustang and Eclipse 550, but both are smaller and a bit of a stretch. The HondaJet's selling point is speed and cabin: it's a bit bigger and faster than the Phenom and Citation, but the Phenom is cheaper and the Citation is a Citation.
Embraer delivered 30 Phenom 100s last year. Cessna hasn't published the number of orders for the M2, but 12 of them were delivered in December of last year so it looks promising. The HondaJet has about 100 orders on the book.
I think it'll do fine and be successful enough for Honda to keep building them, but it's not going to take over the market or revolutionize light jets or anything extraordinary. It'll just be another option for buyers in the sub-$5 million light jet market
Flugtechnik
> ttyymmnn
06/30/2014 at 12:54 |
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I worked on this thing back in 2010/11. Neat little plane. I hope it does well because I'm interested to see what they build next based on the lessons from this plane.
They actually built and flew the first prototype back in the 90's. It takes a long time and an ungodly amount of money to design and certify an aircraft like this.