Honda Jet - 1st public flight

[crash-proof]

Just read that it went on it's 1st public flight. Any thoughts? Will it sell? It's got a lot of competition. Even Embraer jumped on the wagon with its VLJ a few months ago.

I can imagine that pax would not like to see those jets mounted on top of the wings like that, and would not be surprised to see them moved back to rear like all the other jets, as the program develops. (Trivia...did you know that the ERJ 145 had top mounted engines, during design stage?)

 

[h25b]

I would be surprised to see Honda go in to production with this as well. They're pretty conservative and this would be pretty out of character to go out on a limb like that. Look how long it took them to start in to the pick-up truck market for crying out loud.

 

[421Driver]

Honda built the jet as a test bed for their new engines. They don't really have any plans to certify that plane in the near future, but they want to get the engines certified. I'm pretty sure they are partnered with GE in that venture.

Check out the article in the most recent AOPA Pilot.

 

[Flying Illini]

Good AOPA article on the aircraft. I think it would compete pretty well if it was put into production...but since they move slowly and deliberately, they may miss the boat on this one.

 

[750driver]

I would be surprised to see Honda go in to production with this as well. They're pretty conservative and this would be pretty out of character to go out on a limb like that. Look how long it took them to start in to the pick-up truck market for crying out loud.

Let's hope it runs better than the new 2002 Honda CRV we purchased a few years ago ... a Lemon from day 1. Still dealing with it

 

[h25b]

Let's hope it runs better than the new 2002 Honda CRV we purchased a few years ago ... a Lemon from day 1. Still dealing with it

Wow... That's the first dissatisfied Honda owner I have run across in years... I have owned 3 Honda Civics and just bought a 2005 Odyssey for the wife. Never have had anything but outstanding reliability and customer service. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. What problems have you been having ?

 

[Flying Illini]

My first time hearing about a dissatisfied Honda owner as well. No Lemon Laws to protect you?

 

[cptsesso]

I am sure there are a few "lemon" aircraft rolling off the line each year also.

 

[750driver]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. What problems have you been having ?

Apologies for diverting the thread topic, but to answer the Qs:

We've owned 5 Honda cars, 1 motorcycle, and 1 lawnmower (all new). Never had a problem until this CRV. Japan build location on VIN, not England. 1st year after a major redesign; big mistake on my part.

The day we brought it home from the dealer, the rear axle seal leaked all over the garage floor (out of service for 6 days at Honda dealer for repairs). That was just the beginning. Trans dumped fluid and was replaced at 4700 miles. I've had 4 pages worth of documented failures similar to the ones listed above, and all handled by the dealer.

Suffice it to say, I've never had problems with our other vehicles. They are all well maintained and detailed. The issue here is that Honda refused to take responsibility for this lemon, and they fought us all the way. They didn't want to set precedence by admitting any fault.

Hopefully they'll back up the maintenance on this new aircraft (if it ever reaches production). I don't want to waste anymore forum space, but if anyone has additional questions, PM me and I'll elaborate.

 

[pmcustom]

Honda engines

To confirm what was said before, Honda is partnered with GE to build their turbines. They are also partnered with Continental to research a Honda 4-cyl piston. I don't know what they will market for sure, but I imagine they will succeed in whatever they choose to do!