The Mitsubishi Regional Jet Photo: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp
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Mitsubishi jet starts test flights in U.S. to gain safety certification

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Six years and counting is a hell long delay. I wonder how much tax money has been pumped into this jet in the name of national prestige being the first commercial jet for a country that prides itself as a tech powerhouse.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Japan is awakening.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

@drlucifer

 I wonder how much tax money has been pumped into this jet

$5 billion so far and more billions to go.

It is this MRJ cost overrun that has essentially killed the Japanese stealth fighter program, since Japanese government has absolutely no faith in Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's ability to finish on time and on budget.

With the estimated development budget of "All-Japan" F-3 at $20 billion, it could easily balloon to $40 billion or even $60 billion if Mitsubishi was the lead contractor.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I'm happy for Mitsubishi and Japan for making the effort.

That being said, does Mitsubishi have a business plan for competing with Bombardier and Embraer, or are they simply betting on localism to capture the domestic market? (Neither Airbus nor Boeing make any plane that small).

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Like most japanese companies Maybe they are counting on local sales.

Maybe the government will subsidize intl sales cause if all cost is factored in determining the price of the jet they won't be able to compete internationally.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@AkieToday  Japan is awakening.

Awakening as Rip Van Winkle, from a nightmare of cost overruns, poor designs, bad understanding of aerospace realities, into a living hell in competing in a market which is already saturated with better products.

The Mits jet has nothing special to offer the market unless it so heavily subsidized that it is dumped. Even then, parts, maintenance, and other issues which would need so much work for so few planes it would not make it an attractive purchase, say for a few Japanese feeder routs.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

@drlucifer

Six years and counting is a hell long delay. I wonder how much tax money has been pumped into this jet in the name of national prestige being the first commercial jet for a country that prides itself as a tech powerhouse.

Any "whistleblowers" at Mitsubishi willing to come forward? Silly me scratch that question there is not a foreigner running the show there.

This jet surely could only have really have been conceived for "guaranteed" domestic consumption? Why would an airliner outside of Japan even consider such a jet against the likes of Airbus and Boeing.

I guess with guaranteed domestic sales they believe they can develop into a giant like Boeing and Airbus which of course is possible as well as tendering to making parts for the two aviation giants and learning from that too which is actually what Japan does best.

I wish them the best of luck.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

the country's first home-made commercial passenger jet

Bout time!

has started test flights in the United States... On Sunday, engine functions of the narrow-body, twin-engine jetliner were confirmed following a flight from the base of Mitsubishi Aircraft, a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, in the western U.S. state of Washington

So it's not really home-made.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Japan is awakening

40 years to late.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

As a bit of an aviation geek, I hope this plane succeeds. That said, it's been bogged down in what appears to be characteristic MHI economic incompetence that has allowed competitors to get the jump on it with similar offerings.

Incidentally, I saw one landing at Itami airport a few weeks ago and could barely tell it apart from an E-190 other than by its yellow test livery.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

drlucifer:

Like most Japanese companies Maybe they are counting on local sales. 

HondaJet is doing very well outside of Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vVbGln43t0

2 ( +3 / -1 )

otherworldly:

"Japan is awakening"

40 years to late.

Never too late for independence.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

SerranoToday 09:43 am JST

the country's first home-made commercial passenger jet

Bout time!

has started test flights in the United States... On Sunday, engine functions of the narrow-body, twin-engine jetliner were confirmed following a flight from the base of Mitsubishi Aircraft, a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, in the western U.S. state of Washington

So it's not really home-made.

FAA is really the agency you want to certify your aircraft. Good for Japan, China is trying to get FAA certification. Russia gave up on ever getting FAA certification

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Very much like the Brasil's Enbraer E190/195 regional airliner

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Like @kyronstavic, I am a little bit of an aviation geek. Just a little bit, having loved all things related to airplanes since I was a kid

I love following the development of new aircraft and that includes Japan's efforts over the years. I am probably one of the few readers who actually flew on the old YS-11 way back when, both on ANA and on Toa.

With that said, the MHI MRJ is doomed to fail before it even goes into operation. Don't get me wrong, they will produce some and undoubtedly ANA will end up buying the planes it has contracted for, but the idea that MHI will be able to sell any planes outside of Japan in any significant numbers is wishful thinking, particularly given the nearly 7 year delay in the planes launch.

Its not that I want it to fail, it is just the reality.

Truthfully, who would choose the MRJ over the competition?

-- MRJ would be the only offering from the manufacturer, in 2 models, whereas its competitors offer multiple aircraft and are probably already present in the fleets of the airlines that would buy them.

-- There are no cost advantages to MRJ. They would be produced in Japan, not exactly a low cost production location.

-- There are no obvious technical advantages to the MRJ, nothing that is compelling.

Right now the market is dominated by Embraer and Bombadier, along with ATR. Embraer has now aligned itself with Boeing, while Bombardier has aligned with Airbus.

Truthfully, how does MHI compete against that? It is worth noting how many other manufacturers of regional aircraft have already gone out of business.

And the China market is off-limits, due to the regional jet already being produced by Comac.

Of course, they could heavily subsidize orders or arrange for financing, but a business model predicated on that is doomed to fail.

Just calling it like I see it.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

They are not the only ones. Japan, China, and Russia are trying to wrestle some of the market away from Boeing and Airbus. They currently hold almost the entire market. They both have roughly 45% a piece for the market share.

I am more curious about where Mitsubishi gets its materials from as DuPont holds well over 90% of the sourcing material market.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Mitsubishi gets its materials from as DuPont holds well over 90% of the sourcing material market.

Which material are you talking about?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Steven C. Schulz

(Neither Airbus nor Boeing make any plane that small).

Airbus has taken over Bombardier's airliner division. Bombardier C Series has been renamed Airbus A220.

Boeing has taken over Embraer's commercial aviation division. Embraer name will be kept, but marketed and serviced by Boeing from now on.

So in this respect, Airbus and Boeing now have complete line ups from small regional jets all the way to Jumbo jets, and there is no room for Mitsubishi now. That narrow door has closed in 2015.

@socrateos

HondaJet is doing very well outside of Japan.

HondaJet is an American aviation company. 99% of employees are Americans. The only Japanese at the company is the CEO.

Unlike Honda cars made in the US, HondaJet is engineered by Americans, with Honda providing only funding and the engine, which uses an automotive turbo style centrifugal compressor instead of a normal axial flow fan compressor.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Tiring

The performance polymers that are used on the outter lining of planes and what encases the engines are made by DuPont. They are incredibly resistant to quick changing temperatures and they have high resistant to heat and cold. They are also highly pressure resistant as well as durable. Even military aircrafts use their technology.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

So the company that made the "Zero" is coming back into the aeronautical field? What took so long Mitsubishi?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Hiro Ueda

So the company that made the "Zero" is coming back into the aeronautical field?

Zero Sen was obsolete by 1943.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

HondaJet is doing very well outside of Japan.

HondaJet is a manufacturer of personal / private / business jets. Also known as a very light jet.

It has room for 6 passengers.

There is absolutely no comparison between this sort of plane and a regional jet like the MRJ. The target markets are different, the buyers are different, and, most importantly, the technical complexity and manufacturing prowess required is night and day.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Imagine if someday : Russia, China, Japan,South Korea.....etc.Together we formed an "Asian Airbus Coporation" !  Russian turbofan, Chinese airframes,Japanese avionics, South Korean flaps/Stabilizer and landing gear...!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

HondaJet is an American aviation company. 

Honda Aircraft Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company of Japan, whose founder Soichiro Honda gave a birth to the idea of a Honda Jet. The current HondaJet was designed by Mr Fujino, whom Honda sent to US to build the company from scratch. So it is very much a Japanese company just as Toyota's US manufacturing company is still a Japanese company.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

elephant dreams, wonderful things that could save the planet.

zones2surf, I flew on the rugged old YS-11 too! They are still flying in some parts of the world.

Not sure what Mitsubishi sees that we don't, but it's a good-looking plane. The very best of luck to them. They must have been eyeing the Chinese competition, and wanting to keep domestic Japanese technology alive instead of always buying from abroad.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I may be a bit dim, but why is the plane being taken to America for its certificate? Can't Japan issue their own?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Socrates

Yes, HondaJet company is Japanese owned, but the talent that engineers and build it is 100% American.

@Thunderbird2

Japanese type certification is good for Japanese domestic flight only, like the C919 which cannot make international flights.

Just to make the international flights from Japan, an FAA certification is required because most foreign airports only accept FAA certifications.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Everyone who laments the delays in this programme, wouldnt you rather they got it right before they allowed fare paying pasengers on board? Also the amount subsidised to Mitisbushi for this is probably a drop in the ocean compared to what Airbus and Boeing both recieve from their governments. Also China and Russia are practically singlehandedly supporting their own aircraft industries for designs that are far behind what the MRJ is providing. 

I just hope they can sell them beyond Japan!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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