Honda Aircraft Founder Retires Leaving A Legacy Behind

Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine April/May 2022 online issue.

Michimasa Fujino

Honda Aircraft Company President, CEO and Founder, Michimasa Fujino, retired effective April 1, due to reaching the corporation’s mandatory retirement age of 62.

Fujino designed, engineered, and built the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, the clean-sheet aircraft design that introduced innovations in aviation technology, including the Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration, Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) nose and wing, and composite fuselage. The HondaJet is the first, and only, business jet to include these technologies.

During 2021, Honda Aircraft Company continued development with two major announcements: the HondaJet Elite S, honored with a “Top Flight Award” as best new business jet from Aviation International News, and the HondaJet 2600 Concept, Honda Aircraft’s proposal for the next generation business jet.

The HondaJet as seen in 2006.

The HondaJet Elite S is the fastest, highest-flying jet with the greatest range of any aircraft in its class. The aircraft is also powered by the GE Honda Aero Engine HF120 and features an ergonomically designed cockpit and a highly customized Garmin® G3000 avionics suite. It also remains significantly more fuel efficient, and emits less greenhouse gases, than all other similarly sized twin-engine business jets.

The HondaJet 2600 Concept jet inherits Honda Aircraft’s aeronautical breakthroughs, including the OTWEM configuration, NLF technology, and carbon composite fuselage. Through the further refinement of these foundational HondaJet technologies, the HondaJet 2600 Concept will be the world’s first light jet capable of nonstop transcontinental flight with a range of 2,625 nautical miles.

The first flight of the first production HondaJet.

HondaJet 2600 Concept

The 2600 has a quiet and spacious cabin suited for long-range travel, can seat up to 11 occupants, and aims to deliver unparalleled fuel efficiency with a max operating altitude of 47,000 feet. The aircraft will dramatically reduce carbon emissions with up to 20% better fuel efficiency than typical light jets and is over 40% more fuel efficient than a mid-size jet during a typical mission.

The global presence of the HondaJet further increased when it received Thailand type certification, marking 14 countries with HondaJet certification. Honda Aircraft Company’s sales and service footprint now spans North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, India, Japan, and Russia.

Additionally, the FAA recently awarded Honda Aircraft Company the “Diamond Level AMT Employer Award,” the highest level in the William (Bill) O’Brien Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards program, in recognition of the skill and professionalism of Honda Aircraft’s maintenance technicians.

Honda Aircraft Company celebrated several milestones recently, including delivery of the 200th HondaJet in late December 2021 since the first delivery in December 2015. The worldwide HondaJet fleet also surpassed 100,000 flight hours in January 2022.

With all of these accomplishments, it is no wonder the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) honored Fujino with its Reed Aeronautics Award in 2021 “for the invention of advanced aerodynamic and structural techniques.”

The award is named after Dr. Sylvanus A. Reed, an aeronautical engineer, designer, and founding member of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences in 1932. Reed was the first person to develop a propeller system composed of metal rather than wood. His aluminum alloy propeller gave Jimmy Doolittle’s R3C-2 aircraft the speed it needed to win the 1925 Schneider Cup race and brought the inventor much credit and many rewards. Past recipients of the award include Clarence L. Johnson for the SR-71, Ben R. Rich for the F-117, Preston A. Henne for the MD-80 and Gulfstream aircraft, and Elbert L. Rutan for the Voyager.

“I was very surprised, honored, and very grateful to be recognized with the 2021 Reed Aeronautics Award,” said Fujino. “I’ve worked on airplane design for the past 35 years – it has been challenging, but also very exciting. On behalf of Honda Aircraft Company, I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who supported the HondaJet project.”

Honda Aircraft Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Founded in 2006, Honda Aircraft’s world headquarters is in Greensboro, North Carolina, the state known for the Wright brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk.

The challenging spirit upon which Mr. Soichiro Honda founded Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is alive today as Honda Aircraft fulfills one of Honda’s longstanding dreams to advance human mobility skyward.

Hideto Yamasaki has assume leadership of Honda Aircraft. Yamasaki has held numerous positions in the automotive side of Honda, including general manager in Turkey and more recently as a vice president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc.
(https://www.hondajet.com/).