{"id":31773286,"date":"2026-11-08T11:01:57","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hondajet-over-the-wing-engine-mount-otwem-laminar-flow-ha-420\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T11:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:12:22","slug":"hondajet-over-the-wing-engine-mount-otwem-laminar-flow-ha-420","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hondajet-over-the-wing-engine-mount-otwem-laminar-flow-ha-420\/","title":{"rendered":"HondaJet Over-the-Wing Engines: Why Honda Put Them on Top"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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The two engines are not hanging under the wings like an airliner&rsquo;s, and they are not bolted to the tail like almost every other small business jet. They sit on short pylons <em>on top<\/em> of the wings, like a pair of jet-powered saddlebags.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It looks like a styling flourish. It is the opposite. Engine location, as the aircraft&rsquo;s designer wrote in 2004, was the single biggest design decision of the whole programme, and for decades conventional wisdom said that putting nacelles over a wing was a reliable way to make a fast aeroplane slower.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Honda&rsquo;s engineers spent years in computers and wind tunnels proving the opposite. Here is how a carmaker&rsquo;s first jet turned a known aerodynamic penalty into a bonus, and why its nose owes something to a pair of Italian shoes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Honda HA-420 HondaJet, light business jet<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Designer:<\/strong> Michimasa Fujino, Honda; concept sketched 1997, settled 1999<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 3 December 2003, proof-of-concept aircraft, Greensboro, North Carolina<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Certification:<\/strong> FAA type certificate December 2015; EASA May 2016<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engines:<\/strong> Two GE Honda HF120 turbofans on pylons above the wing (OTWEM)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Key idea:<\/strong> Nacelle front face near the wing&rsquo;s shock position, about 75 to 80 percent chord, weakens the shock<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Laminar flow:<\/strong> SHM-1 natural-laminar-flow wing; laminar nose cuts fuselage drag about 10 percent<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Elite II:<\/strong> 422 kn cruise, 1,547 nm range (FAA certified November 2022)<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A car company goes flying<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Honda&rsquo;s interest in small jets goes back to the late 1980s. Its experimental MH02, built and flown with Mississippi State University&rsquo;s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, was the first all-composite light business jet to fly. Flight testing continued through 1996, and then the aircraft was shipped to Japan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The engineer behind the next step was Michimasa Fujino. He began sketching the HondaJet in 1997 and had the concept settled by 1999, when tests in a Boeing wind tunnel showed it worked. In October 2000, Honda R&amp;D Americas opened a research facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, and on 3 December 2003 the proof-of-concept HondaJet made its first flight there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lxEGka4qnfA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Aviation International News looks back at the HondaJet prototype&rsquo;s first flight, 20 years on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Even then, Honda had not decided to sell it. Fujino put the aircraft on public display for the first time at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on 28 July 2005 to test the waters. The reaction was strong enough that Honda announced commercialisation at the following year&rsquo;s AirVenture.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/hondajet-prototype-n420ha-oshkosh-2005-debut.jpg\" alt=\"The blue and white HondaJet proof-of-concept prototype N420HA in flight at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The proof-of-concept HondaJet, N420HA, flying a demonstration at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2005, its first public appearance. Photo: Sergey Ryabtsev \/ GFDL 1.2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The problem with engines on top<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Most light jets mount their engines on the rear fuselage. That keeps the wing clean, but the engines need a heavy carry-through structure inside the fuselage to hold them, and that structure eats into the cabin. Fujino&rsquo;s first motive for moving them was simple: mount the engines on the wing, delete the carry-through, and the cabin gets bigger.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The catch is aerodynamic. Air accelerates as it flows over the top of a wing, and on a jet cruising at high subsonic speed it can reach the speed of sound and form a shock wave. Put a nacelle in that already fast airflow and, as a rule, the interference makes the shock stronger and drag starts to climb sharply at a lower Mach number. The VFW-Fokker 614 tried over-wing engines in the 1970s, and the interference limited its speed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Engine location was the major design decision in the development of the HondaJet configuration.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Michimasa Fujino<\/strong> &mdash; Honda R&amp;D Americas, &ldquo;Development of the HondaJet&rdquo;, ICAS 2004<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Honda&rsquo;s team attacked the problem with a three-dimensional Euler code, then validated the results in the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel with a scale model, sweeping the Mach number from 0.70 to 0.84. They moved the nacelle forward and back, up and down, in and out, and watched what happened to the shock.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The sweet spot at three-quarters chord<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Here is the &ldquo;aha&rdquo;. On the clean wing, the shock sat at about 70 percent of the chord. When the front face of the nacelle was placed near that point, around 75 to 80 percent chord, the shock became weaker, not stronger. Drag divergence moved to a higher Mach number than the wing achieved with no nacelles at all. Place the nacelle at mid-chord instead, and a strong shock formed towards the trailing edge, exactly as the textbooks warned.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Fujino and his colleague Yuichi Kawamura called it favourable interference, and published it in the <em>Journal of Aircraft<\/em> in 2003. Their conclusion was that the optimum over-the-wing layout produced lower drag than a conventional rear-fuselage engine mount. Honda calls the result OTWEM, for over-the-wing engine mount, and patented it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/hondajet-otwem-engine-pylon-over-right-wing.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of a HondaJet engine nacelle mounted on a pylon above the right wing, with the landing gear below\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The over-the-wing engine mount up close: the nacelle sits on a short pylon above the rear part of the right wing, well clear of the cabin. Photo: Michael Pereckas \/ CC BY 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The team also checked the obvious worries. Low-speed tests on a one-sixth-scale model showed the wing first stalled at about 55 percent of the semi-span, with the root between fuselage and nacelle still flying, and maximum lift was slightly higher with the nacelles fitted. A powered model with electric engine simulators showed inlet distortion stayed within engine limits up to a post-stall angle of attack of 26 degrees.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5HsjXCqWMyU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Honda Aircraft&rsquo;s own explanation of why the HondaJet&rsquo;s engines are mounted over the wings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Laminar flow, from the nose back<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The HondaJet over-the-wing engine mount was only half of the drag story. The HondaJet also uses natural laminar flow, which means shaping surfaces so the thin layer of air next to the skin stays smooth and orderly for as long as possible, instead of tumbling into higher-drag turbulence. No suction pumps or slots, just geometry and very clean surfaces.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The wing uses a new airfoil, the SHM-1, with a favourable pressure gradient to about 42 percent chord on the upper surface and about 63 percent on the lower. To validate it at full-scale speeds and Reynolds numbers, Honda fitted a test glove to a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/t-33-shooting-star\/\">Lockheed T-33<\/a> jet trainer and flew it. Laminar flow is ruthless about steps, gaps and waviness, so the metal wing&rsquo;s upper skin is a single machine-milled integral panel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always looking for something which is very beautiful and especially the fuselage nose shape which is very critical to give an impression like the front grille of an automobile.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Michimasa Fujino<\/strong> &mdash; Honda Aircraft Company CEO, to Business Insider (2019)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The nose got the same treatment. Using a panel code and a one-third-scale model, Honda shaped the fuselage nose to keep the boundary layer laminar at climb and cruise angles of attack. According to Fujino&rsquo;s 2004 paper, the laminar-flow nose cut fuselage drag by about 10 percent compared with a turbulent-flow nose.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The shape also had to look right. Fujino has confirmed the story that he was inspired by a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo high heels he noticed in an airport duty-free shop in Hawaii. Behind the composite fuselage skin, then, is a nose drawn by aerodynamics and approved by a designer&rsquo;s eye.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/hondajet-f-hceq-approach-birmingham-side-view.jpg\" alt=\"Side view of HondaJet F-HCEQ on approach with gear down, showing the long laminar-flow nose and the engines above the wing\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A HondaJet of EATIS on approach to Birmingham in January 2022. The side view shows the long, curved laminar-flow nose and the nacelles riding above the wing. Photo: Alec Wilson \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">From prototype to production line<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The prototype flew with two Honda HF118 turbofans of 1,670 lb thrust each. Production aircraft use the GE Honda HF120, developed under a GE and Honda partnership and certified by the FAA in December 2013. The first FAA-conforming HondaJet flew on 20 December 2010, and the first production aircraft on 27 June 2014.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The FAA issued the HA-420 type certificate in December 2015, and Honda delivered the first customer aircraft on 23 December 2015 in Greensboro. EASA certification followed in May 2016, and the FAA granted Honda a production certificate in July that year. In its press release, Honda Aircraft pointed straight at the feature that defines the aeroplane.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;dramatically improves performance and fuel efficiency by reducing aerodynamic drag&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Honda Aircraft Company<\/strong> &mdash; Press release on the FAA production certificate, July 2016 (via AOPA)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The family has grown since. The HondaJet Elite arrived in 2018, and the Elite II, certified by the FAA in November 2022, is credited with a cruise speed of 422 knots and a range of 1,547 nautical miles. Honda is now working on a larger stretched design, the HA-480 Echelon, that keeps the same engines-on-top layout.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tchNTucoifY\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">AOPA flies the HondaJet and looks at what the unusual layout means from the cockpit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That may be the real verdict on OTWEM. For three decades, designers looked at the VFW 614 and filed over-wing engines under &ldquo;interesting failure&rdquo;. A motorbike and car company found the exact spot on the wing where the idea stopped being a penalty, and built a jet family around it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Michimasa Fujino, &ldquo;Development of the HondaJet&rdquo; (ICAS 2004); Fujino and Kawamura, &ldquo;Wave-Drag Characteristics of an Over-the-Wing Nacelle Business-Jet Configuration&rdquo; (Journal of Aircraft, 2003); AOPA; Business Insider; Wikipedia (Honda HA-420 HondaJet)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Why are the HondaJet&rsquo;s engines mounted over the wings?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The HondaJet&rsquo;s over-the-wing engine mount, or OTWEM, removes the heavy carry-through structure that rear-fuselage engines need, which makes the cabin bigger. Honda&rsquo;s wind-tunnel research also showed that with the nacelle at the optimum position, the shock wave over the wing is weakened, giving lower drag than a conventional rear-fuselage engine layout.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is OTWEM on the HondaJet?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">OTWEM stands for over-the-wing engine mount, Honda Aircraft&rsquo;s name for the HondaJet&rsquo;s layout with two turbofans on pylons above the wings. Designer Michimasa Fujino found that placing the nacelle front face near the wing&rsquo;s shock position, at about 75 to 80 percent chord, raised the drag-divergence Mach number instead of lowering it.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Does the HondaJet use natural laminar flow?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. The HondaJet has a natural-laminar-flow wing using Honda&rsquo;s SHM-1 airfoil and a natural-laminar-flow fuselage nose. The airfoil was validated in flight on a gloved T-33 jet trainer. According to Fujino&rsquo;s 2004 paper, the laminar nose reduced fuselage drag by about 10 percent compared with a turbulent-flow nose.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the HondaJet first fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The proof-of-concept HondaJet first flew on 3 December 2003 at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The first FAA-conforming aircraft flew on 20 December 2010 and the first production HondaJet on 27 June 2014. The type received its FAA type certificate in December 2015.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who designed the HondaJet?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The HondaJet was designed by Michimasa Fujino, who began sketching it in 1997 and settled the concept in 1999. He led the aerodynamic research behind the over-the-wing engine mount and laminar-flow surfaces, and later became president and CEO of Honda Aircraft Company. He has said a Ferragamo shoe inspired the nose shape.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was the HondaJet the first jet with engines over the wing?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No. The VFW-Fokker 614 airliner of the 1970s also had over-wing engines, but interference between the engines and the wing limited its speed, and the type was a commercial failure. Honda&rsquo;s contribution was finding the nacelle position at which the interference becomes favourable at high subsonic speed.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can I fly in a T-33?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, the jet trainer Honda used to flight-test the HondaJet&rsquo;s laminar-flow airfoil, flies passengers from Waterloo, Ontario, near Toronto. MiGFlug lists a 45-minute flight with stick time included and no licence required. Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/t-33-in-canada\/\">T-33 flight in Canada<\/a>.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why are the HondaJet\u2019s engines mounted over the wings?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The HondaJet\u2019s over-the-wing engine mount, or OTWEM, removes the heavy carry-through structure that rear-fuselage engines need, which makes the cabin bigger. 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MiGFlug lists a 45-minute flight with stick time included and no licence required. Book a T-33 flight in Canada.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/vfw-614-over-wing-engines-german-jet\/\">The Airliner That Wore Its Engines on Top<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/northrop-x-21a-laminar-flow-control-wing-slots\/\">Northrop X-21A: The Plane With 800,000 Slots in Its Wings<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/winglets-richard-whitcomb-nasa-wingtip-vortex-fuel-saving\/\">The Bent Wingtips That Save Billions in Fuel<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/how-does-an-aircraft-fly-four-forces-lift-explained\/\">How Does an Aircraft Fly? Lift, Weight, Thrust and Drag<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why the HondaJet carries its engines on top of the wings: the OTWEM wave-drag research, the natural-laminar-flow wing and nose, and the HA-420 story from 2003 prototype to certification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":31773176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31773286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>HondaJet Over-the-Wing Engines: Why on Top | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HondaJet over-the-wing engines explained: the OTWEM wave-drag research, the laminar-flow wing and nose, 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