Innovation and Inspiration – The HondaJet

Samantha Magill

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 7:30 P.M. at the Virginia Air and Space Center in downtown Hampton, Virginia

This lecture will trace the history of the development of the world’s most advanced light jet, the HondaJet, from Michimasa Fujino’s hand drawings in 1997 to a certified aircraft in 2015. The HondaJet is the fastest, highest-flying, quietest, and most fuel-efficient jet in its class.

The HondaJet design incorporates many technological innovations including: the Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration, natural laminar flow airfoil and fuselage nose, and composite fuselage. The lecture will discuss how these innovations were reached and how they dramatically improve performance and fuel efficiency by reducing drag. Mr. Fujino will elaborate on how the OTWEM design reduces cabin sound, minimizes ground-detected noise, and provides a spacious cabin. The HA-420 HondaJet received FAA Type Certification and successfully entered service in December 2015.

Speaker

Samantha Magill has been with Honda Aircraft Company Inc. since 2010, and has had several roles including: Technical Marketing; Sales Engineering; Flight Sciences’ Stability & Control Engineer; currently she is responsible for the company’s External Affairs including: community; academic; government; and industry relations. Additionally, she is handles Inclusion & Diversity initiatives.

Samantha completed her M.S. and Ph. D. in aerospace engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a B.S. in aerospace engineering at Auburn University. After her academic career, she moved to Southern California to work with AeroVironment, Inc. on Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAV). Samantha continued her aviation career in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, where she collaborated within the Dornier-Fairchild legacy on a ‘start-up’ designing and marketing a new light jet.

Samantha has published several technical papers as well as spoken on behalf of Honda Aircraft and women in aviation as a guest speaker and panelist. She is very active in the community locally and within the industry. She has the honor to serve on many board of directors, advisory councils and committees, a few are: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Guilford Technical Community College Board of Trustees; Greensboro Rotary; United Way of Greater Greensboro; and Junior League of Greensboro.