Two-wheeled vehicles, four-wheeled vehicles, land vehicles,
and also water vehicles; all have been dominated by Honda. But who would have
thought that its founder, the late Soichiro Honda, had a dream to create Honda
airplane.
Actually Honda had tried to realize the dream of its founder
since the 1980s. However, in the 1990s the company finally took serious thought
to undergo this ambitious mission, precisely when its first jet design was
successfully created.
Under the banner of Honda Aircraft Company which was
officially established in 2006, the CEO Michimasa Fujino felt optimistic in
fulfilling the dream of Soichiro Honda. The hard work of Honda team was finally
paid off with the presence of HondaJet HA-420 that's officially delivered to
the customer for the first time on December 23, 2015.
Developed in the Greensboro, HondaJet HA-420 was already
undergoing initial flight testing since the mid of last year. But the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US had just issued the certification on
December 8, 2015.
This aircraft is basically classified as a very light jet.
Don't compare this jet with the Boeing or Airbus aircrafts, because its
dimension is only around 13 x 12.1 x 4.5 meters, which means it is categorized
as a private jet.
Furthermore, one of the most striking innovations in this jet
is the engines above the wings that are claimed to provide a powerful
performance, both in terms of speed and fuel efficiency, as well as facilitate
the passengers and crews to access the cargo easily.
In the cabin, the HondaJet HA-420 can accommodate four to
six passengers. The interior itself is about 5.4 x 1.5 x 1.5 meters, once again
it could be considered as a new innovation because it looks more spacious than
other jets in its class. Furthermore, the cockpit is equipped with a row of
touch-screens with sophisticated navigation system from Garmin.
HondaJet HA-420 is offered at a price of $ 4.5 million,
approximately $ 1.8 million more expensive than the average price of private
aircrafts in the market. Honda now can proudly proclaim that it is not only
known for the Vario, Mobilio or NSX, but also for its HondaJet.