Honda Aircraft lifted the curtain and unveiled a “concept” of its next aircraft—a larger light jet with a transcontinental range of 2,625 nm and with a midsize-jet cabin that seats up to 11 occupants—yesterday at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas. A mockup of the fuselage with stub wings and engines on pylons is on display this week at Honda Aircraft’s BACE exhibit.
The configuration of the HondaJet 2600 is similar to the original HondaJet HA-420, with Honda Aircraft’s over-the-wing-engine-mount design.
According to Honda Aircraft president and CEO Michimasa Fujino, the HondaJet 2600 is being developed in a similar fashion as the first HondaJet. That means presented first as a concept for market research and then later a decision on commercialization based on market interest. “There is a lot of activity in R&D with the interior mockup and progress of our design,” he said.
The HondaJet 2600 will have a maximum cruise speed of 450 knots and a maximum altitude of FL470. At that altitude, cabin altitude is 6,363 feet thanks to the composite fuselage, similar to the HA-420 fuselage construction. For the HondaJet 2600, the fuselage will be more oval-shaped, increasing headroom and shoulder space at each seat. The cabin interior measures 62.5 inches high and 61 inches wide—4.5 inches taller and one inch wider than the HA-420’s cabin.
Bizav Groups Pledge Net-zero C02 Emissions by 2050
Key business aviation organizations are expanding upon a global effort begun a decade ago to lessen the industry’s impact on the environment, including a new goal to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Industry leaders announced the stepped-up goals during a panel discussion at a media breakfast yesterday at NBAA-BACE.
Goals established in 2009’s Business Aviation Commitment on Climate Change—an initiative of IBAC, NBAA, and GAMA—included increasing fuel efficiency by 2 percent a year between 2010 and 2020, reducing carbon emissions 50 percent by 2050, and achieving carbon-neutral growth by 2020.
“If we look back at where we were in 2005, we were 16 metric tons in emissions,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “We’re driving that quickly down to zero because we are making these advances in other areas. And so, as a result of the progress that we’ve made over the past decade, as a result of the tools that we see in our toolbox…we will be carbon net-zero by 2050.”
It’s important that manufacturers are aligned with industry goals, added Nicolas Chabbert, senior v-p of Daher’s aircraft division. “It’s probably a condition of our survival,” he said.
Besides achieving net-zero carbon emissions, another expanded goal is to continue to increase fuel efficiency by 2 percent a year between 2020 and 2030. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will play a key part in achieving those goals, said NBAA chair Elizabeth Dornak.
Updating the progress of its two new business jet programs on Monday at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Dassault Aviation reported that it now has three Falcon 6X airframes flying two to three times a week that have collectively logged more than 300 hours over some 100 flights.
Dassault rolled out its large-cabin Falcon 6X in December, unveiling an aircraft that has the largest cross-section dimensions of any purpose-built business jet. The aircraft made its first flight in March and two more joined the program since then. “Our test pilots have given the 6X high marks for its excellent handling,” said company chairman and CEO Eric Trappier, adding they compare its maneuverability favorably to the company’s fighter jets. Transport Canada certification of its Pratt & Whitney PW812D engine is expected by year-end.
Around that time, a fourth airframe—the first production 6X—will fly for the first time, according to Trappier. It will be delivered to Dassault’s Little Rock, Arkansas completion facility early next year to get a full interior installed. Trappier said that, upon completion, this aircraft will embark on a tour around the second quarter to demonstrate its performance capabilities at airports around the world.
"There is still considerable test activity to be completed, as in any test campaign,” said Trappier. “But we can report at this point that we are achieving milestones at a pace that our test engineers are really happy with."
Entry-into-service for the 6X is expected late next year, and the OEM's product support organization is preparing for that event.
NBAA-BACE 2021 kicked off with a rousing keynote session featuring FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, aviation innovator Martine Rothblatt, cutting-edge inventor Dean Kamen, and NASA Mars Ingenuity helicopter leader Teddy Tzanetos, along with lots of laughs from actor/comedian and retired USMC Lt. Col. Rob Riggle.
Preceded to the stage by a marching drum corps dressed in pulsing illuminated suits one could imagine on the Starship Enterprise’s house band, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen welcomed attendees back after last year’s pandemic-induced virtual event. “The industry is taking off,” Bolen proclaimed. “It’s an exciting time to celebrate where we’ve been, where we are, and more importantly, where we want to go."
Bolen also announced that BACE is carbon-neutral this year, through offsets purchased from 4Air, and underscoring the gathering’s focus on sustainability.
BACE’s focus on the future this year was personified by Rothblatt, who founded United Therapeutics to develop an FDA-approved infusion technology. One of her companies is now developing drones and a drone network to deliver to hospitals fresh organs and tissue for transplants United Technologies is developing.
A passionate pilot and business aviation consumer, Rothblatt quoted Orville Wright: “You cannot advance technology unless you’re willing to question assumed truth."
FAA chief Dickson added, “This is the most exciting time in aviation and aerospace since the development of the jet engine” and explained how the FAA will “nurture that innovation while providing a safe and efficient aerospace system.”
Universal Avionics (UA) announced its FlightPartner and FlightReview applications and is offering customer demonstrations this week at NBAA-BACE. The applications will be available by the end of the first quarter of 2022 and mark the first step in UA’s goal of creating a connectivity-enabled ecosystem across its avionics.
Connected to Universal’s WAAS/SBAS-enabled flight management system (FMS) by introducing Wi-Fi enablement of existing equipment, the iPad-hosted apps streamline and enhance interactions between the flight team (pilots, maintenance personnel, among others) and the FMS before, during, and post-flight. The apps enable interactions between the FMS and the apps, and between the tablet and UA’s cloud-based infrastructure for data analytics. By providing relevant analytics of each flight, they enable operators to optimize flights and aircraft availability.
UA’s connectivity ecosystem is designed to give customers a connected, open, and data-centric environment to enhance mission preparedness on the ground, in the air, and post-flight. The ecosystem uses a cyber-secure, portable, and cloud-based platform to deliver avionics-centric solutions and support services, including the use of third-party applications and content.
“FlightPartner and FlightReview are UA’s early steps in a push towards the creation of a dynamic connectivity ecosystem, tying our various avionics systems to a suite of applications and expanded services that our customers will be able to use 24/7/365,” said Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav.
VIP airliner specialist Comlux Aviation Group is highlighting this week at NBAA-BACE its new ACJ320neo completion, and the forthcoming availability of the ACJ TwoTwenty. The latter is the newest member of the ACJ family, which the Swiss company is launching (as interior completions provider) in partnership with Airbus Corporate Jets.
Group founder and chairman Richard Gaona told AIN the market for preowned executive airliners is “active,” but for new models access is restricted to OEMs, clients, and prospects due to the pandemic, making sales “very complicated.” He added, “You can’t sell an [executive] aircraft on video.”
The just-completed ACJ320neo’s brief visit to Las Vegas for BACE, where it touched down at Harry Reid International Airport, is a case in point.
“This aircraft was supposed to be certified by EASA, but [due to Covid] EASA cannot come to the U.S.,” Gaona said. With a stopgap UK Civil Aviation Authority certification, Comlux then had to secure an FAA flight permit for the flight to Las Vegas and back—just as the U.S. government teetered on the edge of hitting the debt limit and shutting down.
Comlux owns and will operate the ACJ320neo, which is available for charter and for sale (and subsequent management) through Malta-based Comlux Aviation.
Meanwhile, Comlux Completion is preparing to induct the first green ACJ TwoTwenty from Airbus's A220 U.S. factory in Alabama. That aircraft is slated for arrival this December, with service entry in early 2023.
The digital flip-through issues of AIN’s award-winning NBAA Convention News are now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from NBAA-BACE 2021, whether you’re in Las Vegas attending the show or watching from afar.
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