HondaJet: A Love Story

Behind the closed doors of a hangar at the Atlantic Aero FBO more than two decades ago at Greensboro, North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO), a team of engineers and technicians assembled an oddly configured twin-engine very light business jet. This was the proof-of-concept (POC) prototype of what would become the bestselling HondaJet very light jet. The team’s work culminated on Dec. 3, 2003, when the POC took flight and a new business jet family was born.

The Honda team worked overtime to achieve the goal of flying the POC by the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight on Dec. 17, 1903. “So, this date of December 3 gave us a little bit of contingency in case any unforeseen issues might arise,” recalled engineering consultant David Danner, one of the many employees who witnessed the first flight. “There were many [issues], but somehow all were overcome and the day arrived.

“This was a relatively small team of engineers and technicians that had been working furiously for at least the last 10 months—and some much longer—in preparation for this day. Many times it was in excess of 14- and 16-hour days, going home late at night and racing back to work the next morning. We couldn’t wait to get back to work because there was so much to do. I never worked with a more determined and dedicated team. Everyone had a spirit to help each other solve the problem of the day. It really was inspiring and made me want to be a better engineer.”

Another witness, Dave Khublall, a technical expert on electrical wire design who is leading the wiring design and Installation team on Honda Aircraft’s next airplane, the HondaJet Echelon, recalled the intense work during the nearly three years before the POC's first flight.

“When I got here,” he told BJT, “I realized that there were no electrical system drawings, only conceptual schematics, and we had to create them from scratch. What a daunting task! I walked around here for a few days scratching my head trying to figure out where to begin, but we did and never looked back.

“We had a very small group in the early days of the project here in Greensboro and a larger team in Japan supporting us. Work hours during the design phase started early and extended into the evening, day after day. In three years, we accomplished a tremendous amount of work and overcame huge challenges with the limited staff getting the aircraft ready for its inaugural flight."

Unique Engine Configuration

The second production jet (along with the Fokker VFW 614) to feature over-the-wing-mounted (OTWEM) turbofan engines, the HondaJet was the brainchild of Honda’s Michimasa Fujino, who had been tasked in 1986 with helping the giant company fill one of the last missing pieces of its mobility empire: aviation. Fujino spent years exploring aircraft design, culminating in flight testing of the composite twin-engine MH02, which had two engines mounted directly on top of a wing attached to the top of the fuselage. 

He eventually settled on the HondaJet OTWEM design because of its efficiency and the extra space it afforded in the aft cabin, but persuading the head office that this was the best configuration proved to be a huge challenge. 

“OTWEM was very controversial and not well accepted,” he told BJT. “I tried to explain the pros and cons of the design with technical detail and also how this concept may change the light jet concept. However, my boss did not understand it. In a meeting, he stated, ‘I have never seen such a stupid engineer in my life. You are fired!’ I was very upset and disappointed. I remember I did not go to the office for a couple of days after the meeting. I walked around downtown Tokyo to change my mood but I found myself thinking only about the design. I realized I cannot run away from this and decided to prove the design. 

“I and a few engineers who supported me began to work on the OTWEM design inconspicuously. Using CFD [computational fluid dynamics] simulation and a transonic wind tunnel, I was able to finally prove the concept of reducing wave drag by the OTWEM configuration. I also established a design method for aeroelasticity. I submitted a paper to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Journal of Aircraft. The reviewer wrote me that this is a relevant finding in aircraft design, and the paper was published. I was so excited to see his comment. The published papers for the OTWEM‘s aerodynamic and aeroelastic design became strong endorsements to present the design to the top management of Honda Motor. It took more than two years to reach the point and finally, the OTWEM configuration for HondaJet was fixed. We could move one step forward for the POC HondaJet’s first flight.”

“The day before the flight,” Khublall said, “every team performed their final preparations for the big day; then it was the electrical team's turn. It was getting late in the evening and we still needed to load the latest version of the aircraft software. All was going well until we hit a snag, making the wrong selection and putting us back several hours. At this point, the stress levels elevated, with a few nervous people hovering over our shoulders in the cockpit. With tech support from our vendor, we managed to reload the aircraft software and performed all the checks needed. It was now midnight and, with the flight scheduled for 8 a.m., the aircraft was prepped and ready to go. However, we did not get much sleep that night and were back in at 5:30 a.m., firing up the aircraft to make sure everything was still OK before the preflight.

“Stress levels were running high leading up to the big occasion, checking and double-checking, making sure that [we] have accounted for everything. With the aircraft prepped and ready, preflight with the pilots, [we were] going over the flight and every scenario and procedure. Did I say ‘stressful!’”

“I think everyone was stressed and nervous every day because we really wanted to make the first flight a success,” engineer Kazuhisa Mahiko recalled.

Finally, the First Flight

The test team walked out that morning to the airplane, which was flanked by the chase airplane and a news helicopter. Atlantic Aero and Honda employees lined up outside the hangar.

“As the pilots completed their checks and engines started,” Khublall recalled, “a selected engineering team was monitoring the critical aircraft systems in the flight test control room where all key data was displayed on monitors for us to track.”

Fujino himself joined the crew in the control room instead of standing outside. “I concentrated on radio communication and data sent by the telemetry system,” he said. "There were no windows facing the runway, so I could not see the takeoff, flight, or landing. It seems strange but I had never seen by my own eyes any first flight of my programs [that] I have worked because I always monitored the data.”

“The flight went off without a hitch,” Khublall said, “with all systems checked out, and a decision to extend the flight was granted. What a huge relief for everyone after the aircraft landed safely—jubilation—we did it!”

Test pilots Richard Gritter and David Paul West (who passed away in 2021) were at the controls of the POC, taking off from KGSO’s Runway 5 (since changed to 5R after the addition of a parallel runway).

“There was no surprise,” Fujino noted. “We defined the detailed flight profile for the test and did several computer simulations before the flight. The flight test was conducted based on the test profile. After the first flight, the pilots commented to me that it was very close to the simulation. It seems to me that their comment was the best compliment to our engineers, so I was very pleased and relieved.”

“Many people watched the first flight from the roof of NOAA [weather station] at KGSO Airport," Mahiko said. “The people on the roof of NOAA were so thrilled that they jumped around, and they even worried they might break through the roof in their excitement. I had never felt such emotion before and I haven't felt anything like it since. I think many engineers shed tears of joy. I was happy to be involved in work that moved me to tears.”

“Lots of smiles and high-fives [were] going around,” according to Khublall. “It was time to take stock, celebrate, and reflect on what was achieved, but we still had a lot more to accomplish, with more flights flown to expand the flight envelope. Of course, we had a big celebration; that was a given.”

Danner and some fellow employees had climbed onto the roof of a small storage building to watch the first flight. “It was cold and a bit windy, so we were a little concerned that the flight might be delayed, but it wasn’t. It was magnificent, and everyone cheered and felt a great sense of accomplishment. The pilots were met when they came off the airplane after they landed and taxied back to the hangar and they were each thrown into the air in great jubilation! Everyone was happy and smiling and laughing. It was a great honor to be there and be part of this historic event.”

Players and coaches getting tossed into the air is traditional in Japanese sports and is considered to be heartfelt congratulations, according to Fujino, and the crowd enthusiastically gave him a toss, which is captured in the video of the first flight. “I did not prepare for it but I was tossed in the air, too,” he said. “My Japanese friend who watched the video was very pleased and impressed to see the ‘tossing in the air’ at the POC first flight because he felt that the American people as well as the Japanese congratulated the accomplishment of the POC first flight together in the Japanese way. It represented a truly international team’s accomplishment.”

He joked, “I did not do any simulation for the tossing in the air like the first flight of the POC HondaJet, so it was very dangerous! Actually, I was not designed for crashworthiness like the HondaJet.”

Time to Relax

After the first flight, it was time for everyone involved to unwind for a bit. “During the several months of preparation for the first flight,” Mahiko said, “there were various pressures (flight safety, solving technical issues, schedule requirements such as the first flight to be achieved in the same month, 100 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, the live streaming of the first flight video, etcetera). So, after the first flight, we needed a release from a burnout state and went straight into the Christmas vacation.”

Fujino and his family took some much-needed vacation time, too, traveling to the Atlantis resort in sunny Nassau, Bahamas. But he carried some devastating information that had been weighing him down for some time and that tempered the joy of the first flight. 

“Before the first flight of the POC, I was privately told by my boss that the HondaJet project wouldn’t be commercialized. He said to me that after the demonstration of the POC flight, the project will be ended. So I was very disappointed because all of us worked very hard. After the conversation, it was very difficult to motivate but I finally decided to do my best until the POC first flight is completed and I might explore new opportunities after the first flight. To tell the truth, I had very mixed feelings when we accomplished the POC first flight because I knew there was no future for the HondaJet even though I thought there was a big potential for the HondaJet design.”

While in the Bahamas, a chance encounter with a pilot who had flown with his wife to the Bahamas in their Cessna Citation gave Fujino reason to hope. “They asked about my work and I told them, ‘I am working on a jet project at Honda.’ Surprisingly he knew about the HondaJet. He said, ‘The HondaJet is really cool and I really want to get it.’ I said I could not sell one as we are not selling the HondaJet.’ His response was, ‘If you decide to sell the HondaJet, please let me know first and I really want to purchase it. It’s our promise!’ I felt like I could finally meet the real customer—in person—who wants the HondaJet, and his words really encouraged me. I thought I should not give up.”

Returning to his office in January, Fujino set about trying to find a way to keep the HondaJet project alive. He came up with a plan to showcase the POC at the world’s largest airshow, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. “After 15 months of negotiation, Honda management gave us permission to showcase the HondaJet POC with the condition that we never mention or insinuate that we have the intention to commercialize the HondaJet. It should purely and only be an experimental aircraft.” Little did they know the profound effect that showing up at Oshkosh would have for the HondaJet.

On July 28, 2005, the HondaJet POC flew a demonstration flight and then landed in front of the massive Oshkosh crowd. “Thousands of aviation enthusiasts visited the HondaJet, and it was an overwhelming response,” Fujino said. “Some customers sent checks to Honda Motor to order a HondaJet, even though we kept saying it is purely an experimental aircraft. The news was passed to Honda Motor in Japan, and I saw some changes in the atmosphere of Honda management.”

Months of fruitless discussion ensued and Fujino was almost ready to give up on the HondaJet, but then in the spring of 2006, he met with Honda Motor’s then-CEO Takeo Fukui. This was to be a final meeting to deliver the business plan to commercialize the HondaJet. 

"He listened to my presentation," said Fujino. "After my presentation, he did not say a word for a few minutes. After a long silence, he whispered as if he tried to convince himself, ‘Honda is a personal mobility company and we should do the HondaJet,’ and then, ‘Fujino, propose to the board meeting. Do your best to make the HondaJet successful.’ I could not believe what he said for a few minutes. It was a moment to change our lives and I could finally see the silver lining after many years of effort.”

Honda Aircraft exhibited at that year’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention and Fujino announced the formal commercial launch of the HA-420 HondaJet, opening the order book. “It was again an overwhelming response from customers,” he said, especially what happened next. 

“At the show, someone called, ‘Fujino san!’ and I looked back. He said, 'Do you remember our promise?’ Yes, the gentleman who I met at Nassau came to our booth to order a HondaJet! It was an emotional moment as he was the one who inspired me to proceed with the HondaJet without giving up.”

Clean-sheet Airframe and Engine

What made the achievement of the HondaJet POC’s first flight remarkable in the annals of business jet development is that it was powered by Fadec-controlled engines designed and made by Honda. It is rare for an aircraft manufacturer to develop a clean-sheet airframe powered by a new engine design and even rarer for the same manufacturer to design and develop the airframe and engine.

Coincidentally, the Wright Flyer was powered by an engine of the Wright company’s design, created by the brilliant “mechanician” Charles Taylor. The POC’s 1,670-pound-thrust, HF118 engines never went into production but morphed into the more powerful 2,095-pound-thrust HF120, designed and manufactured by a Honda and GE joint venture, GE Honda Aero Engines.

“When we accomplished the POC first flight, it was a moment to challenge the survival of the project,” Fujino recalled. “It was an emotional roller coaster from the POC first flight to Oshkosh then NBAA. After we accomplished our POC first flight, it took 2.5 years to stand on the starting line for commercialization of the HondaJet, and our new journey started in 2006.

“It was extremely difficult to start a new aerospace business. The decision process was long and we constantly faced many challenges. Looking back, I was encouraged by American aviation enthusiasts and customers during very difficult times. It seems to me that their direct and indirect support made the HondaJet be realized. That’s why I always want to design something customers are excited about. They are our motivation to overcome many challenges to reach type certification and deliver the HondaJet."

In December 2010, seven years and three days after the Wright’s 100th-anniversary flight date, test pilots Warren Gould and Stefan Johansson (now Honda Aircraft's director of flight operations) powered up the first production-conforming HondaJet and took off into the Greensboro skies. This launched a flight test program that led to FAA certification of the HondaJet in December 2015.

“We were still doing testing on the POC before the first flight of the conforming prototype,” Johansson told BJT. While both versions looked similar and shared handling qualities, all of the systems and avionics were updated in the later version. “The performance was much better in the real airplane,” he said.

The POC was the first airplane to fly with components of Garmin’s new G1000 integrated avionics system, which the avionics manufacturer had just unveiled in March 2003. While Garmin kept quiet about its early relationship with Honda Aircraft, the Japanese manufacturer eventually selected the touchscreen-controlled G3000 suite, making it one of two launch customers (the other was the PiperJet, which never made it to market).

As with the POC’s first flight, when Gould and Johansson took off, he said, “I think we had close to the whole company on the ramp watching.”

During the five years it took until certification, there were four flight test airplanes. Johansson spent most of his time in ship 3, testing avionics and systems and flying natural icing trials. “Icing was a high point,” he said. “It was an interesting type of testing and quite demanding.”

To gain flight-into-known-icing certification, he had to chase opportune weather conditions all over, guided by frequent text messages via satcom with the meteorologist who was sussing out the best icing conditions. This involved flights in the Northeast U.S., around the Great Lakes, and finally in Winnipeg, Canada. 

“The meteorologist was texting over the satellite link; we were trying to coordinate with ATC—it was a pretty high workload,” he said. Not only did the test crew need to find icing conditions, but they also had to let the ice build to the proper profile, find visual conditions to do handling and systems assessments, and then return to fuel up. “It was kind of a tight profile,” he said. 

Echelon Rising

Now Johansson and the flight test team are putting the finishing touches on the HondaJet’s new autothrottles and Garmin Autoland system. And the next program is already underway: Honda Aircraft’s Echelon, a larger-cabin light jet with midsize-jet performance that has already garnered more than 350 letters of intent from buyers. “We’re doing a lot of work preparing for the Echelon program,” he said. “Our work starts well ahead of flying [the airplane].” 

Taking advantage of Honda's expertise, the Echelon team will work closely with in-house designers at Honda North America Automotive Design on the interior. “We have always believed as Honda in long-term partnerships, so we are working with them,” said Amod Kelkar, Honda Aircraft chief commercial officer and head of the Echelon program. The timeline calls for certification of the Echelon in 2028, and the preliminary design review is already complete. The new jet will be powered by Williams International FJ44-4C engines in OTWEM configuration.

“With our first jet, it was a clean-sheet airplane, clean-sheet engine, so it took a couple of years delay but it also allowed us to learn in terms of best lessons learned,” he said. “And we have the same retention of our expertise and talent, so we are making sure the new program takes into consideration all those lessons learned.”

Honda Aircraft president and CEO Hideto Yamasaki, who took over the helm after Fujino retired in March 2022, is enjoying the opportunity to bring a new jet to market. “Having this engagement with the Honda team right now is so exciting,” he said. “Many of the technicians, many of our engineers, had the desire when entering automotive…maybe aviation was their second choice or their first choice. They are very much excited. I think we are really heading into the next phase of creating together something new in the aviation industry. I hope that will be a game-changer.”

Engineer Mahiko continues his work with Honda Aircraft, on the Echelon program. “Our employees' enthusiasm for airplane development, such as wanting to build and fly it, has passed down from those who experienced the first flight of the POC HA-420 aircraft,” he said, “and even 20 years later, it is still deeply rooted in the associates of Honda Aircraft.  I am once again glad that I joined Honda, and I can engage in the development of the HondaJet Echelon with those associates.

Four Echelons will be involved in the flight test program as well as an integrated test facility, which replicates the avionics and systems for testing on the ground. 

As for who will be at the controls for the first flight of the Echelon, “It’s a little premature to say who’s going to fly it,” test pilot Johansson said.