Workers who will move in Monday will build company's new light jet
Gloria Whisenhunt, a Forsyth County commissioner, and her husband, Curt, walk past a model of a HondaJet at Honda Aircraft Co. at PTI airport.
GREENSBORO
Honda Aircraft will start moving into its new research and development building on Monday at its world headquarters campus at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Manufacturing employees will be the first on site as they prepare to start assembling the models of the company's light jets that will be used in the certification process by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Rolled out in 2003, HondaJet is a $3.9 million aircraft. It has an over-the-wing mount design aimed at reducing drag at high speed to improve cruise efficiency.
It also has a light fuselage structure to provide several benefits, including greater fuel efficiency, comfort and a large cabin.
"We are especially proud to be designing and building first-class technology in North Carolina," Michimasa Fujino, the president and chief executive of Honda Aircraft, said yesterday in the R&D building. He spoke to a group of about 40 people who were invited for a tour.
The R&D building joins Honda Aircraft's new 68,000-square-foot headquarters on Ballinger Road at PTI. The company has spent about $100 million so far but expects to invest more money when it starts construction on its 250,000-square-foot manufacturing building this summer.
The company has 400 employees but expects that number to reach 600 when it starts full production.
Fujino said that Honda Aircraft will have the flexibility to add more shifts in its manufacturing plant, which could ultimately mean additional jobs.
The company is currently recruiting for engineering professionals for its ongoing development, certification, flight testing and "conforming aircraft" manufacturing programs. Any open positions are listed on the "Careers" section of the company's Web site at www.hondajet.com.
Fujino said that Honda Aircraft initially planned to produce 70 aircraft a year but now expects to produce 100 because of demand from customers.
With 60-foot ceilings, the R&D building is starkly white, from a systems test room to a display hangar used as a showroom where all deliveries for HondaJets will take place.
Honda said that white is a color that's universal throughout its properties. Once the company's production building is up and running, employees will even wear white uniforms.
Honda officials use the color to help employees be aware of anything that's out of place in their surroundings, said David Wentz, the company's manager of infrastructure and facilities.
Fujino said that Honda Aircraft initially planned to produce 70 aircraft a year but now expects to produce 100 because of demand from customers.
With 60-foot ceilings, the R&D building is starkly white, from a systems test room to a display hangar used as a showroom where all deliveries for HondaJets will take place.
Honda said that white is a color that's universal throughout its properties. Once the company's production building is up and running, employees will even wear white uniforms.
Honda officials use the color to help employees be aware of anything that's out of place in their surroundings, said David Wentz, the company's manager of infrastructure and facilities.
Honda Aircraft's guests were especially impressed with the size of the building, a mock-up fuselage, and its showroom that showcases a HondaJet model on a large turntable in the middle of the room.
Forsyth County Commissioner Gloria Whisenhut said that the R&D building gives her hope for a better local economy.
"It's far more than what I expected today," said Whisenhut, who is also a member of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. "I wasn't expecting it to be this large."
Honda expects to start overall deliveries of HondaJet in 2010.
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