Honda Aircraft Company debuted the new marketing name for its HondaJet 2600 project, christened the Echelon.
two small overhead windows in the lavatory to pro- vide ambient light and a standard, externally ser- viced toilet. There’s also an optional vanity sink with running water and a belted toilet seat. The aircraft can accommodate a single pilot and nine passengers. Pilatus showed off its upgraded PC-24 with re- duced empty weight and increased maximum take- off weight that boosts its useful load by nearly 600 pounds. With six passengers aboard, this increases range by 200 nm. The interior sports a new three- pace divan that converts into a bed, a new touch- screen cabin management system, and multiple USB charging ports. Bruno Cervia, vice president of en- gineering for Pilatus, points out that nearly 1,000 small engineering refinements were needed to re- duce empty weight and increase operating weights. There was a long waiting line to visit the aircraft at the NBAA static display. Honda Aircraft CEO Hideto Yamasaki announced the official commercialization of the Echelon, the production name for the HondaJet 2600 concept unveiled in 2021. The goal is to provide midsize jet
range and cabin comfort with light jet operating economics, as well as achieve up to 20 percent better fuel efficiency than current generation light jets and up to 40 percent better fuel mileage than existing midsize jets. The HA-480 Echelon will feature a larger and lon- ger fuselage than HondaJet Elite II, but it will re- tain the original model’s signature, over-the-wing- engine mount, super-critical, laminar-flow airfoil, T-tail empennage, and laminar-flow nose section. While sharing many system components with Elite II, Echelon will be 57 feet long with a 56-foot span and 17,500-pound MTOW. It will be built on Hon- da’s production line in Greensboro, North Carolina, parallel to Elite II and approved as an amendment to the HA-420 type certificate. Maximum cruise speed will be 450 ktas—Mach .785—the standard for sin- gle-aisle jetliners. The Echelon will be powered by twin 3,600-pound- thrust-class Williams International FJ44-4C turbo- fans and have a four-passenger range of 2,625 nm. Up front, the flight deck will be graced with Garmin
25
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting