Honda Aircraft Company is well-known for its production of the HondaJet and associated variants. This family of aircraft has become one of the most successful light business jets in the industry today. The company was officially formed in August 2006. However, the development of the HondaJet can be traced back to as early as 1986.

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Photo: Oleksandr Naumenko | Shutterstock

Honda’s Research & Development (R&D) division began conducting a top-secret research project to study smaller-sized business jets. In the early 1990s, the small group began constructing a prototype and testing it at the Mississippi State University research center, which was called the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory. Eventually, the head of the project, Michimasa Fujino, designed a complete aircraft in 1997. The concept was finalized in 1999, and further testing began.

Eventually, Honda R&D utilized a research facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) in Greensboro, North Carolina, to conduct the aircraft’s first flight in 2003. Eventually, Fujino put the aircraft on display at the 2005 EAA AirVenture Airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The positive reception to the aircraft convinced Honda executives to bring the aircraft to market. Honda R&D branched out after the development of Honda Aircraft Company in August 2006, leading to the official commercialization of the HondaJet.

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Honda Aircraft Company has produced several variants of the HondaJet over the years, with over 250 total aircraft built. However, the most recent variant of the family of aircraft is the HondaJet Elite II. Let’s take a closer look at how this aircraft came to be and what makes it so unique.

Brief history

As previously mentioned, Honda Aircraft Company began commercializing the modern version of the HondaJet in 2006. The company planned that it would take three to four years to develop and certify the aircraft, meaning it initially wanted to begin deliveries in 2010. However, the first prototype jet built to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards took its first flight in December 2010. A production HondaJet flew for the first item in June 2014.

Photo: HondaJet

Eventually, the FAA awarded the original HondaJet its type certification in December 2015, which meant it could begin delivering the aircraft shortly after. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) awarded Honda the aircraft its type certificate in May 2016, and the jet achieved certification in Japan in December 2018.

Over the years, Honda Aircraft Company has made several upgrades to the original aircraft and released several different variants. This includes the HondaJet Elite and, most recently, the HondaJet Elite II. The Elite II was announced initially in October 2022. Several upgrades were introduced to increase the range and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), along with a new avionics system and a redesigned interior. Shortly after the announcement, Honda achieved the FAA type certification for the Elite II in November 2022, per Avionics International.

Notable design features

The overall shadow of the aircraft remained unchanged from the original HondaJet. Inside the fuselage, the aircraft can fit a maximum of seven passengers but has a typical seating arrangement that can fit four to five passengers. This fits the aircraft into the very light business jet category. Its measurements of the interior cabin are:

• Cabin height: 4.83 feet
• Cabin width: 5 feet
• Cabin length: 17.80 feet
• Total baggage storage: 62 cubic feet

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The Elite II uses a Garmin G3000 integrated flight deck that can be used by a single pilot. This avionics system includes an autothrottle and, recently, the upgraded Garmin Autoland system. The Garmin G3000 flight deck utilizes three touchscreen displays. The HondaJet Elite II is powered by two GE Honda HF120 turbofan engines, which provide just over 2,000 pounds of thrust each. The engines were designed in a joint venture between Honda Aircraft Company and General Electric. These engines are attached to the aircraft by pylons in an over-the-wing engine mount configuration instead of the typical arrangement of attaching to the fuselage itself.

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The over-the-wing engine mounts reduce the draft from the wing as the wind passes over the top of the wings and combines with the airflow around the engine. Overall, the aircraft is made from a composite fuselage and aluminum wing. Both the wing and the nose were designed for improved laminar flow, meaning that the air around both the wing and the nose are streamlined. The fuselage itself has a constant profile, which opens the possibility for Honda Aircraft Company to stretch it in the future.

Performance specifications

As previously mentioned, the aircraft shares the same fuselage shadow as previous HondaJets. However, the HondaJet Elite II had several performance improvements compared to earlier variants. The Elite II has the following specifications:

The HondaJet Elite II also has improved take off and landing distances to directly rival competitors in the very-light jet market. The aircraft has a required takeoff distance of just under 3,700 feet and has a required landing distance of just over 2,700 feet.