Honda Aircraft Company the HondaJet Elite S

GREENSBORO, N.C. – May , 2021 – Honda Aircraft Company today revealed a new upgraded aircraft, the “HondaJet Elite S,” at its first ever virtual product launch event themed “Innovation Continues: Elite S.”

The HondaJet Elite S features several upgrades that expand operational capability and improve flight operation. With an increased maximum takeoff weight of 200 lbs., customers can now fly up to 120 nm (138 mi) further* at a higher payload, or take an additional passenger* during their typical mission.

Additionally, the new avionics features of FAA DataComm and ACARS replace traditional voice commands with text-based messaging to improve the clarity and efficiency of communications. Combined with the newly introduced Advanced Steering Augmentation System (ASAS), the Elite S further reduces pilot workload and maximizes safety.

Taking the HondaJet’s signature exterior profile to the next level, the HondaJet Elite S introduces new styling with exclusive paint schemes available in Gunmetal, Luxe Gold, and Deep Sea Blue. These new color options are topped off with a signature Elite S logo, with the bold red S and further customization available depending on exterior color selections.

While introducing the HondaJet Elite S, Honda Aircraft Company unveiled an Elite S with a special paint scheme, which represents the company’s continued commitment to research and development of leading-edge technology to realize new possibilities and propose new value for business aviation.

“Since its introduction in 2018, the HondaJet Elite has achieved the best performance in its class while also being the most efficient, and with the new Elite S, we take another step forward in expanding the aircraft’s capability,” said Honda Aircraft Company’s President and CEO Michimasa Fujino. “As a result of the innovation, design and engineering on the new Elite S, we are once again setting a new standard in business aviation.”

The HondaJet Elite S has inherited the aeronautical breakthroughs developed by Honda Aircraft Company, including the Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration, Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) fuselage nose and wing, composite fuselage and a highly customized avionics suite. The aircraft continues to be the most efficient, quietest, fastest, highest, and farthest-flying in its class. *additional range benefit begins to phase in above 650 lbs. of payload; additional passenger/payload benefit ranges from 170-200 lbs. depending on range of mission

– Key new features of the HondaJet Elite S –
Increased Gross Weight 200 lbs.
• Carry additional payload for the same distance, or load more fuel and fly further with the same payload.

Avionics Software Upgrade *optional featuresA
Building on the highly customized HondaJet avionics suite based on G3000, the Elite S introduces several new advanced features enabling more seamless communication and reduced pilot workload for more efficient operations.
• FAA Data Comm: Functionality intended to replace traditional voice commands with text based messaging for departure clearance and enroute services where available in the United States.
• ACARS: Enables text based messaging with both air traffic services and operation centers. Air traffic services include terminal information, terminal weather, and departure clearance from supported airports. ACARS also provides several functionalities for communicating with operation centers including: flight plan upload, messaging, weather, and automatic transmission of position reporting and Out/Off/On/In status.
• COM3: This functionality allows the operator to disable the Datalink Mode of the radio and use it as a 3rd VHF, to increase dispatch reliability. This function will come with selection of FAA Data Comm and ACARS.

Advanced Steering Augmentation System (ASAS)
• Advanced Steering Augmentation System (ASAS) reduces pilot workload and enhances safety for missions in specific weather conditions.

New Styling Options
• New exterior paint schemes: Gunmetal, Luxe Gold, Deep Sea Blue
• Several color options for the new Elite S logo with the bold red S as a standard offering.
For more information, visit hondajet.com.

About the HondaJet Elite S

The HondaJet Elite S is the fastest, farthest and highest-flying plane in its class. The HondaJet Elite S incorporates Honda Aircraft’s many technological innovations, including the unique Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration, Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) nose and wing, and composite fuselage. The aircraft is also powered by the GE Honda Aero Engines HF120. All of these advancements contribute to the aircraft’s superior performance, unparalleled efficiency and maximized fuselage space, making the aircraft’s cabin the largest in its class. The HondaJet Elite S cabin features a full service galley, a private lavatory with optional belted seat and an industry first Bongiovi sound system. The aircraft sets the standard in safety and human-machine interface technology with an ergonomically designed cockpit and highly customized Garmin® G3000 avionics suite.

Honda Aircraft continues to be committed to improving lives through personal mobility, while living in a sustainable society. The HondaJet Elite S remains significantly more fuel efficient and emits less greenhouse gases than all other similarly sized twin-engine business jets. Certified for single pilot operations, the HondaJet Elite S continues to live up to the company’s reputation for superior performance, efficiency, quality, and value.

About Honda Aircraft Company

Honda Aircraft Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Founded in 2006, Honda Aircraft’s world headquarters is located in North Carolina, the birthplace of aviation. 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.

JETOPTERA J-2000 FLYING CAR

Jetoptera was recently awarded two 2021 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts from the USAF to further characterize the noise of its patented Fluidic Propulsive System (FPS™) in an anechoic chamber wind tunnel and to prove that the FPS™ used with an Upper Surface Blown Wing (USB) configuration will produce specific lift force levels similar to those of a rotor-wing aircraft, yet without moving parts.

For the first contract, Jetoptera has partnered with the University of Notre Dame (Professor Scott Morris) to employ the anechoic wind tunnel in their Turbomachinery Labs and characterize the aero performance and acoustics signature of the FPS™ and compare it to similar thrust propulsors currently employed in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts.

“We will compare the FPS™ and three other propulsion technologies that are the legacy propulsors for Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs and UAM vehicles using a similar power supply for each. Having already established our FPS™ lower noise emissions potential versus a propeller under another program, this time we will be using an anechoic chamber and a different measurement system, with the goal of confirming the advantages of the propulsion technology we have invented” said Dr. Andrei Evulet, CEO of Jetoptera, Inc.

Jetoptera has also partnered with the University of Washington (Professor Alberto Aliseda) to employ the Kirsten Wind Tunnel to demonstrate feasibility of lift and thrust augmentation by a wing-integrated Fluidic Propulsion System via the Boundary Layer Ingestion and Upper Blown Surface Jet Mechanisms. Our goal is to find the maximum vertical lift produced with this combination and demonstrate that by distributing the FPS™ along a wing we can produce a specific lift force (lbf/hp) similar to a low disk load rotor employed by rotary wing aircraft. “We will investigate and find the optimal architecture for the use of the wing for VTOL in conjunction with the FPS™ and how it could match the performance of a rotor, by using the same power, but without the large, noisy, moving parts,” said Dr. Evulet.

“We are on the technological design path to demonstrate that an aircraft using the FPS™ is quieter, faster, simpler, more compact and less expensive than a rotor or propeller driven aircraft. Combined with FPS™’ agnosticism to energy sources – it can be powered by jet fuels, Diesel, SAF, hydrogen or electric – we are confident about the superiority of our propulsion solution as noise, safety and performance continue to be major challenges in unmanned and manned aviation,” added Dr. Evulet.

The period of performance is six months for each contract.

In July 2018, Jetoptera finished propulsion tests, triggering an issuing of $1.5 million in equity. In September 2018, Jetoptera and GE Aviation announced that they were cooperating “to jointly demonstrate a 500-pound-force (lbf) class Fluidic Propulsion System leveraging a gas generator based on GE Aviation’s H-Series turboprop engine. This is the first step towards a fully customized gas generator which will lead to a Jetoptera 500 VTOL full flight demonstrator.”

A 50 kg (110 lbs) subscale propulsion system test rig completed a tethered flight in October of 2018, and the company states that the fluid propulsion system met their standards in the “production of stable, repeatable and reliable thrust”. The company reported that it was awarded a patent for their fluid propulsion system in April 2019, and announced in December that additional patents for “Fluidic Propulsion System“, “Configuration for Vertical Takeoff and Landing System for Aerial Vehicles“, and “Flying Car” had also been issued. In this announcement the company made the updated claim that their fluid propulsion System would allow their high-speed configuration of the aircraft to reach speeds between 200 and 400 mph, a revision to the earlier claim that the craft was only capable of speeds up to 200 mph.

A quarter scale model of the J2000 was reported to have flown in May 2019, and during the initial flight the demonstrator reached a top speed of 90mph. In July 2019, this demonstrator completed a successful cargo-delivery demonstration, and in August Jetoptera claimed that the flight testing campaign that utilized the model had successfully demonstrated several key characteristics of the aircraft, including:

Fully autonomous VTOL to wingborne missions; the missions were fully preprogramed to execute VTOL and high speed flight and they can be customized using simple interfaces such as a tablet.

Hovering and maneuverability in flight, per mission input or manually.

Transitions from and to hovering from speeds exceeding 100 mph.

Dynamic characteristics of aircraft in hover and wingborne modes for further analyses.

This model was fully electric, employing batteries as a source of power and electric fans as the means of propulsion. The company reports plans to use thrusters and a turbo-compressor for later models, but has taken meaningful strides in demonstrating their claim that the J200 is capable of fully electric flight.

In January 2020, Jetoptera reported a partnership with Honeywell aimed at the adoption of fluid propulsion systems in the defense market, and in March of 2021 the company was awarded contracts from the U.S. Air Force to test the noise characteristics of the aircraft and prove that their fluid propulsion system was capable of producing “specific lift force levels similar to those of a rotor-wing aircraft, yet without moving parts”.

About Jetoptera

Jetoptera’s vision is to create a world where aerial mobility is commonplace for both cargo and people. We have developed a unique propulsion system integrated with a novel airframe. This allows us to create lighter, more efficient, and less complex aircraft. Our technology enables vertical and short takeoff and landing (V/STOL), high speeds, sizable payloads and range, and maneuverability.