Ready to take off: years of preparation have gone into the development of the HondaJet, which should be flying to customers early next year.

• Author: Hughes, Leah
• Position: PICTURE THIS

The HondaJet, with its sleek body and long, sharp nose, is a looker. This one sports a blue-and-pearl finish and a gold stripe, a special-edition paint scheme signifying its status as the final flight-test aircraft. It marks the end of the beginning. After years of postponements, Greensboro-based Honda Aircraft Co. anticipates Federal Aviation Administration certification of its first general-aviation aircraft in early 2015, with deliveries beginning immediately after. It already has more than 100 orders for the light jet, which carries up to seven, including crew, and a price tag of $4.5 million.

A subsidiary of Japan-based Honda Motor Co., Honda Aircraft was founded in 2006 and soon after announced it would locate its headquarters at Piedmont Triad International Airport, where the startup could benefit from a convenient East Coast location and proximity to numerous colleges and universities that could provide a trained workforce. In October, it opened a 90,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and service center, bringing its capital investment in Greensboro to more than $140 million, including the 250,000-square-foot factory that opened in 2010. The campus now encompasses more than 130 acres and is closing in on 900 employees.

It's part of President and CEO Michirnasa Fujino's vision of the Triad becoming an "aero-technopolis"--a hub of aviation technology. The HondaJet has the region off to a good start, with pioneering innovations such as an over-the-wing engine mount that reduces drag and increases...