The HondaJet is a beautiful aircraft - most jet planes are considered very pretty, but nothing is as spectacular as a HondaJet, it looks so futuristic, and is indeed technologically advanced compared to its rivals in the small business jet class. The engines are unconventionally mounted on the specially made wings, and this configuration gives it 30% more fuel efficiency than other jets of the same class.
To think that such a design came from a car/motorbike/motor manufacturer with previously no aerospace product experience is even more impressive.
The HondaJet in FlightGear.
The HondaJet is modelled quite accurately to the prototype HondaJet in the real world. However, there are some key differences, one is that the cockpit panels in FlightGear are quite sparse and quite different from the real HondaJet, as can be found on pictures over a simple Google search. The yoke is missing and so is the throttle. However, cckpit information is basic enough, but I find that I have to use the HUD from FlightGear for more information such as throttle and yoke input.
The engine noise outside and in the plane is the same. Perhaps there needs to be some improvements there.
When flying, the HondaJet is a very stable aircraft and some of the performance numbers are quite accurate to Honda's figures, but I think I can find some inconsistencies but this is nitpicking. The only gripe I have is that on approach, I tended to overshoot, because with the flaps and gear down it seemingly does not induce enough drag. Then again, no one else has flown the HondaJet before so I cannot verify that this is accurate or not.
FlightGear's autopilot works very well with the HondaJet, it responds in a very stable manner and keeps the plane at the correct altitude, pitch, heading, ascend/descend rate very well. However, changing autopilot inputs (such as ascend rate to altitude hold) causes the autpilot to overreact and oscillate the plane up & down. So changing the AP inputs should be done in small increments(eg changing ascend ratefrom 2000 ft per minute to 1000, then 500, then switching over to Alt hold will suffice) . Overspeeding will oscillate the autopilot as well, and at high altitudes, I have seen the plane tumble wildly out of control due to overspeeding and the fact that I left the simulation for a cup of coffee on more than one occasion.
Otherwise, the plane flies very well and is one of my favorites to fly with.
According to the downloads section, the model is made by Emmanuel Baranger and Tatsuhiro Nishioka. Unfortunately I do not have more information on this, and I cannot find the respective authors' web site on the plane. Hopefully there will be some updates to the plane for the cockpit, yoke and moving map like in the real HondaJet.
UPDATE 5th June 2014: The HondaJet has been taken down by Honda! Honda has sent a takedown request to FlightGear developers, as it "infringes on Honda's trademarks". The FlightGear team is saddened by the request but saw no other option than to take down the aircraft. Initially, the idea of challenging the request might have crossed his mind, but in the end the safest option was take the aircraft down.***
Bad move, Honda! I wonder if the lead designer for HondaJet knows about this, or the lawyers did things that he did not know about?
Some nice read on the HondaJet here.
Honda's official web site on the HondaJet here.
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