We Look Back At HondaJet’s First Flight

More than 20 years ago, Honda Motor Company embarked on a bold experiment, a clean-sheet-design new business jet that offered more cabin space and better performance than existing very light and even some light jets. What made this project even more unusual is that Honda designed and built its own turbofan engine for the HondaJet prototype. After years of intense work by Honda team members in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in Japan, the proof-of-concept HondaJet prototype took to the skies on Dec. 3, 2003. This led to the commercialization of the program and the birth of a new business jet manufacturer.