First Japanese passenger jet in 4 decades rolling out

Looks just like a mini Dreamliner. Whats up with that?

untested product with no service history compared to Bombardier, also interested to know if the price is competitve, or it will be expensive and the "quality quality quality" yarn will be the major selling point. quality and low prices need to go together in the plane market

Major automaker Honda Motor Co. is planning its own jet, the HondaJet, its first foray into aeronautics, although it’s much smaller, seating only several passengers.

That would be six passengers.

Come on, Kageyama-san, do your own research....

Should be called a "Zero".

Nice-looking jet, Mitsubishi. Good luck.

Looks just like a mini Dreamliner. Whats up with that?

Other than raked wingtips (which is common on newer jetliners) the MRJ looks nothing like a 787. Then again, all modern jetliners have similarities simply because of aeronautical design.

Maybe wider seats for the typical Japanese, but not for most of the obese that inhabit the world.

Nice looking plane though.

Very nice glad to see this good news all around.

Good stuff, hopefully it can compete well in the mid sized plane market and go from there

From what I've read, the 787 is composed of 50 percent composites and 20 percent aluminum (compared with 12 percent composites and 50 percent aluminum for the 777). while the MRB is composed of only 10-15% composites. Still, it is a good first step.

I guess now that has showed abe has done something right. mitsubishi is my fav carmaker and im glad to see them successfull and im glad japan will start to create their own airocrafts.

So now they're all going composite what the Dreamliner started

Don't like most things Mitsubishi makes but I am looking forward to riding in one of these. You rarely get to ride in new jets, especially when flying an American airline.

lostrune2

Utilizing composite started when JASDF incorporated it into the F-2 back in the mid 1990's.

SamuraiBlue, passenger plane.

That would be six passengers. Come on, Kageyama-san, do your own research....

Several includes six.

@darknuts

So when the surgeon says "Well, darknuts, you have a several to one chance of surviving the operation," you're going to be happy with that? ; )

The French and Americans do it better.

Looks like a shinkansen with wings.

The biggest fault is the engine because the engine from IHI is better!!!

But having a home grown jet is a source of pride in Japan, whose prized aircraft creations have included the wartime Zero fighter.

While the A6M Type 0 "Zero" was a highly maneuverable fighter, it achieved that maneuverability by removing all the standard survivability components that other countries used in their fighters. No armor plate in the pilot's seat back and no self-sealing fuel bladders. One bullet in a wing tank followed by a tracer round anywhere near the first round resulted in an instant flaming meteor falling to the ground. Early on in China, this weakness wasn't revealed as the Chinese Air Corps was woefully obsolete. The AVG "Flying Tigers" in their P-40 Warhawks - though still at a huge disadvantage in a turning fight against the Zero - developed a "boom and zoom" strategy and pilots started to notice that the Zero's wings were surprisingly easy to set on fire. From then on, Japan's "source of pride" became a liability as the weakness was exploited and Japan's experienced pilots were sent to fiery deaths.

Lostrune, the Airbus A380 started the composite trend. It was a matter of time anyway. The 780 is far from being all composite.

By coincidence, I am right now (Saturday evening here in Tokyo) looking at the new MRJ on TV. It was exhibited at the Singapore Air Show. Looks quite impressive. It was said they have something like a total of 408 orders for it so far. Good start ...

Misleading headline. Japan has never produced a passenger jet. Even the article says the YS-11 was a turboprop.

"The MRJ engine is supplied by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies."

So much for the first "Japanese" passenger jet "in 4 decades" ( actually ever ).

As long as it has more on-board room than the RJs or Embraers, I'll buy a ticket right now...sight unseen!

@Serrano Do you understand that in today world, there is no pure "one country" made civilian aircraft ? From Boeing , Airbus , to the smaller manufacturer , they all got parts that come from all over the world and if you ask your self why MRJ is small one, its simple, so that not interfere with Boing planes , as Japan is one of major contributors for Boing airplanes . And for engine, while Japan has jet engine manufacturer IHI, they chose Pritey because their engines are No1 in today world, when it comes on fuel efficiency, and MRJ need to be as much economical as possible , so, its a business decision .

"@Serrano Do you understand that in today world, there is no pure "one country" made civilian aircraft ? From Boeing , Airbus , to the smaller manufacturer , they all got parts that come from all over the world"

Sure, I understand that, but do the writers of ths article understand that?

@Serrano

Its designed and build in Japan, under Japan firm , so it is Japan airplane, no mater that engines are not from Japan .

Nope, it's not a Japanese plane unless the engine ( pretty important component ) is made by a Japanese company.

Serrano

So I guess there are no Canadian, Brazillian, Russian or PRC made passenger jets either. LoL

I wonder if they had the confidence in the batteries that they had when saying the failures of the 787 were not their fault and used the same company for the batteries for this plane? My guess is no. In any case, I hope the plane works smoothly and this puts Japan back in the game for building jets. But ANA is, as usual, ordering up heaps of the product before it's been tested, which is not smart (ask them how much the largest 787 fleet in the world cost them when problems arose). Anyway, best of luck!

"So I guess there are no Canadian, Brazillian, Russian or PRC made passenger jets either."

This must be so disappointing to so many, many people...

Serrano

This must be so disappointing to so many, many people...

Yeah, it must be a shock to people at Boeing and Airbus that they are not making airplanes since they don't manufacture their own engines. (Sarcasm)