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Honda Aircraft Co. has reached more technical milestones toward production of the HondaJet at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

The company said Monday at a major air show in Wisconsin that it has finished significant electronic tests for the plane and is now beginning intensive stress testing for the unique fiber-composite body of the HondaJet.

Honda said it will be able to fly its first “conforming flight test” aircraft later this year. Engineers are apparently working on the three planes that will be used for flight testing and Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft’s president and CEO, said in a news release that the company’s manufacturing building at PTI is ready for workers to install wiring and plumbing.

The 250,000-square-foot building is on schedule to open in early 2011, Fujino said.

Many Honda production workers have already trained at GTCC, and they will begin training in the factory when it opens.

The news bodes well for the production of the $4.5 million jet, which has been delayed several times to the third quarter of 2010.

Honda is not being soft-spoken about raising the plane’s public profile as it plans to move the plane from Wisconsin to Ohio, where it will entertain race fans at the Mid-Ohio race track.

It will perform demonstration flights before the Indy Racing League Honda Indy 200 on Aug. 8.

The most important work, however, is going on at the R&D center at PTI, where engineers are preparing to put the plane’s structure through extreme stress tests to be sure it can stand up to flight conditions.

Honda said the plane’s body is being fitted with 1,800 “strain gauges” that will be used to measure the stress on the aircraft as a special hydraulic system puts heavy loads on all components of the plane’s structure.

“Honda’s test facility includes an environmental chamber to simulate hot-wet conditions, which is required testing for the validation of composite structures,” the release said.

Honda has twice delayed production of the plane since 2009.

Last year, the company said it would delay delivery of the first plane from late 2010 to late 2011. In May, Honda said the plane will be delivered in late 2012.

Each time the company blamed delays on unidentified suppliers.

No company spokesman was available to talk about the news release Monday.

An aviation trade publication reported that the maiden flight of the first production-conforming HondaJet is scheduled for November, and FAA certification should take place 20 months later.

The company has reported that it has more than 100 orders but has not provided specific numbers.

Honda Aircraft employs about 450 people; that number could grow to 600 by the time the airplane is in full production. Investment will exceed $100 million.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron @news-record.com