Honda Starts the production of HondaJet, Launch in 2013

Honda Aircraft Company has finally announced that it has started production of the much anticipated HondaJet, that company claims to be the world's most advanced light jet aircraft During a press conference at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) annual meeting and convention in Orlando, Florida, the company also highlighted key testing milestones that have been successfully accomplished, enabling the HondaJet to move closer to certification and delivery. And the launch is likely to happen in 2013.

Over the past year, Honda Aircraft has completed various flight, systems and structural tests on HondaJet including crew seat crash tests, speedbrake testing, ultimate load tests, EASA windshield bird strike testing, wind tunnel icing tests and night lighting testing. The company recently further completed the first in a series of remote testing to validate the HondaJet aircraft's performance under extreme temperatures. Hot-weather flight tests were conducted in Yuma, Arizona, and included critical case tests for both aircraft systems and infrastructure such as hot fuel testing, fuselage structure temperature validation and powerplant and electrical generator cooling.

To assist in remote location testing of the HondaJet, a 42-foot, custom telemetry vehicle entered service in October. The mobile telemetry truck was designed to duplicate the telemetry capabilities at Honda Aircraft's world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is a fully self-contained telemetry system used to monitor aircraft data during flight testing. The truck has six work stations for analysts to monitor real-time test data within a 200 nautical mile range of the aircraft and allows year-round operation at remote sites.

Test aircraft expansion 

Earlier this year in May, Honda Aircraft announced the successful test flight completion of the fourth FAA-conforming test aircraft and more recently, the company's fifth FAA-conforming aircraft completed power-on electrical testing and weight-on-wheels testing. This aircraft is on schedule to be released to flight test early next year. Now in final assembly, it will be the first HondaJet to have a full production interior. An additional structural test aircraft, the company's sixth FAA-conforming aircraft, will also join the test fleet next year.

Honda Aircraft's test program currently includes four FAA-conforming HondaJet aircraft: three actively flying test aircraft and one ground test aircraft, which was exclusively used for structural testing and recently retired from the program after successfully completing ultimate load tests.