Story ID: 665
HondaJet Owners Can Improve on Original
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: An upgrade package for original HondaJets offers increased performance and avionics upgrades.
Word Count: 341
Honda Aircraft’s newly formed Advanced Performance Modification Group (APMG) has developed an upgrade package for owners of the original HA-420 HondaJet, offering improved performance and avionics capabilities.

The APMG package, which is priced at $250,000, offers a shorter takeoff field length, 100-pound greater maximum takeoff weight (and payload), and upgrades to the HondaJet’s Garmin G3000 avionics suite. The APMG-upgraded HondaJet’s takeoff length is 3,491 feet versus 3,934 feet for the original HondaJet. With mtow climbing to 10,700 pounds, useful load climbs by 100 pounds to 3,501 pounds, and range increases by between 100 nm and 120 nm.

“We formed the Advanced Performance Modification Group to ensure existing HondaJet owners can experience improvements no matter when they purchased their HondaJet,” said Honda Aircraft president and CEO Michimasa Fujino.

A software upgrade to the G3000 flight deck adds more advanced takeoff and landing (TOLD) calculations, Flight Stream 510 wireless gateway compatibility, an enhanced electronic checklist, angle-of-attack indicator on the PFD, and visual approaches. Any authorized HondaJet service center can install the APMG upgrade.

The HondaJet was the most-delivered jet in its class during 2017 and the first half of this year, Fujino said. Since unveiling the HondaJet Elite earlier this year, he added, “We’ve had overwhelmingly positive market response.” The Elite added a number of improvements over the original HondaJet, including range to 1,437 nm, lower noise due to perforated honeycomb-sandwich engine inlets, shorter takeoff field length, increased mtow, G3000 improvements, and a Bongiovi Aviation speakerless in-cabin sound system.

The HondaJet’s most recent foreign type certification was in India, where the first delivery is expected in the second quarter of 2019. The HondaJet also has received steep-approach approval.

Honda Aircraft (Booth 5044, Static SD44) is now delivering four to five HondaJets per month from its Greensboro, North Carolina factory. There are now 92 HondaJets in operation, and they have flown more than 20,000 hours, with a 99.7 percent dispatch rate.

The HondaJet Elite is on display this week at the NBAA static display area at Orlando Executive Airport.