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Our First Look at the HondaJet Elite
Honda Aircraft extends range and performance with
by Rich Pickett
The HondaJet, certified in December 2015, has undergone its first upgrade – referred to as the Elite. After selling 92 of the first model, Honda Aircraft, under the leadership of CEO and President Michimasa Fujino, has released this new version with increased
performance, additional range, upgraded avionics and significant interior upgrades. In my conversations with Fujino, Honda began work on the Elite immediately following the certification of their first model.
In the October, 2017 issue of Twin & Turbine, Dianne White wrote a thorough review of the original HondaJet. So, for this article, I sought to explore the Elite-specific modifications during a recent test flight in Phoenix. I was joined by Peter Kriegler (director of sales at HondaJet), Michelle Hoover (sales manager at HondaJet Southwest) and her colleague Genaro Sanchez (director of marketing) on the flight to explore the company’s new model.
10 • TWIN & TURBINE January 2019