Honda goes for the upper Echelon

The Greensboro, North Carolina, company unveiled a mockup of the concept at NBAA 2021, also in Las Vegas.

Since the 2021 announcement, the company has been making steady progress on the single-pilot jet, which can carry up to 11 people (passengers and crew). In June, Honda announced that it would indeed move forward with producing the airplane.

Hideto Yamasaki, president and CEO of Honda Aircraft, said detailed design of the aircraft is well underway, targeting an aircraft-level critical design review for summer 2024, with some long-lead items already being fabricated. The Echelon will be built at the Honda Aircraft campus in Greensboro. First flight is planned for 2026 and certification in 2028. The company did not provide pricing information.

The company expects the Echelon to have coast-to-coast nonstop range—including westbound from New York to Los Angeles, something no other single-pilot jet can currently accomplish. To achieve the projected max range of 2,625 nautical miles, the airplane will be limited to a single pilot and four passengers. Such a long flight in a light jet means the cabin must be comfortable. Honda previously reported the airplane will have a cabin altitude of just 6,362 feet at Flight Level 470. The Echelon’s cabin will be 4.5 inches taller and one inch wider at shoulder height than the company’s Elite II. However, the Echelon will provide 2.7 inches more shoulder space on each side and 3.5 inches more space in the footwell on each side of the aisle. The cabin will be available in three configurations—executive, dual club, and with a divan. The interior is being designed in partnership with automotive designers from Honda and Acura.

Yamasaki said the aircraft is set to deliver “unmatched fuel efficiency through aerodynamic innovations to outperform conventional light jets on typical missions by up to 20 percent and mid-sized jets by over 40 percent.”

Like its stablemate, the HondaJet Elite II, the Echelon will have its engines on pylons on top of the wings. However, unlike the Elite, the Echelon will be powered by Williams International FJ44-4C engines. The Elite is powered by GE-Honda engines. The flight deck will feature a Garmin G3000 system, similar to the Elite II, but with several upgrades, including a runway overrun awareness and alerting system and autobraking. The Elite II is undergoing certification now for autothrottles and emergency autoland, which will be included in the Echelon.

Amod Kelkar, Honda Aircraft chief commercial officer and Echelon program manager, reported that the company is planning to certify the new airplane under an amended type certificate from the HA-420 Elite II, which will create a pathway for a common type rating with the smaller airplane. The new model’s FAA designator is HA-480. Kelkar reported that the company has more than 350 letters of intent for the new jet.

The Echelon’s max cruise speed is predicted to be 450 KTAS. The Elite II, meanwhile, has a top cruise speed of 422 KTAS, a max cruise altitude of FL430, and an NBAA range of 1,547 nm.