De Havilland Canada Dash 8
| Dash 8 Q-Series | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Widerøe Q400 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Turboprop regional airliner |
National origin | Canada |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Status | Production suspended since 2022, pending new facility |
| Primary users | QantasLink |
| Number built | 1,258 (as of March 31, 2019)[1] |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1983–2005 (-100) 1995–2009 (-200) 1989–2009 (-300) 1999–2022 (-400) |
Introduction date | 1984 with NorOntair |
| First flight | June 20, 1983 |
Developed from | de Havilland Canada Dash 7 |
| Variant | De Havilland Canada E-9A Widget |
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8,[2] commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was bought by Boeing in 1986, then by Bombardier in 1992, then by Longview Aviation Capital in 2019, which revived the De Havilland Canada brand.[3] Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100-series engines, it was developed from the Dash 7 with improved cruise performance and lower operational costs, but without STOL performance. The Dash 8 was offered in four sizes: the initial Series 100 (1984–2005), the more powerful Series 200 (1995–2009) with 37–40 seats, the Series 300 (1989–2009) with 50–56 seats, and Series 400 (1999–2022) with 68–90 seats. The QSeries (Q for quiet) are post-1997 variants fitted with active noise control systems.
According to the terms of a property transaction made by Bombardier before the 2019 sale to DHC, DHC had to vacate its Downsview, Toronto, manufacturing facility in August 2022, and as of August 2023[update] is planning to restart Dash 8 production in Wheatland County, Alberta, by 2033. At the July 2024 Farnborough International Air Show, DHC announced orders for seven Series 400 aircraft, an order for a newly introduced quick-change combi aircraft conversion kit, and a new factory refurbishment programme.
Development
[edit]Initial development
[edit] | This section needs more citations. (February 2019) |
In the 1970s, de Havilland Canada had invested heavily in its Dash 7 project, concentrating on STOL and short-field performance, the company's traditional area of expertise. Using four medium-power engines with large, four-bladed propellers resulted in comparatively lower noise levels, which combined with its excellent STOL characteristics, made the Dash 7 suitable for operating from small in-city airports, a market DHC felt would be compelling. However, only a handful of air carriers employed the Dash 7, as most regional airlines were more concerned about the operational costs (fuel and maintenance) of four engines, rather than the benefits of short-field performance.
In 1980, de Havilland responded by dropping the short-field performance requirement and adapting the basic Dash 7 layout to use only two, more powerful engines. Its favoured engine supplier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, developed the new PW100 series engines for the role, more than doubling the power from its PT6. Originally designated the PT7A-2R engine, it later became the PW120. When the Dash 8 rolled out on April 19, 1983, more than 3,800 hours of testing had been accumulated over two years on five PW100 series test engines. The Dash 8 first flight was on June 20, 1983.[4]
Certification of the PW120 followed on December 16, 1983.[5]
The airliner entered service in 1984 with NorOntair, and Piedmont Airlines was the first US customer the same year.
DHC resale
[edit]In 1986, Boeing bought the company in a bid to improve production at DHC's Downsview Airport plants,[6] believing the shared production in Canada would further strengthen their bargaining position with the Canadian government for a new Air Canada order for large intercontinental airliners.[citation needed] Air Canada was a crown corporation at the time, and both Boeing and Airbus were competing heavily via political channels for the contract. It was eventually won by Airbus, which received an order for 34 A320 aircraft. Allegations of secret commissions paid to Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney are today known as the Airbus affair. Following its failure in the competition,[citation needed] Boeing immediately put de Havilland Canada up for sale. The company was eventually purchased by Bombardier in 1992.[7]
Q-Series, -400
[edit]
The market for new aircraft to replace existing turboprops once again grew in the mid-1990s, and DHC responded with the improved "Series 400" design.
All Dash 8s delivered from the second quarter of 1996 (including all Series 400s) include the Active Noise and Vibration System designed to reduce cabin noise and vibration levels to nearly those of jet airliners. To emphasize their quietness, Bombardier renamed the go-forward production of Dash 8 models as the "Q"-Series turboprops (Q200, Q300, and Q400).[8]
The last Dash 8-100, a -102, was built in 2005.
In April 2008, Bombardier announced that production of the remaining classic versions (Series Q200 and Q300) would be ended, leaving the Series Q400 as the only Dash 8 still in production. Production of the Q200 and Q300 was to cease in May 2009.[9]
A total of 672 Dash 8 classics were produced; the last one was delivered to Japan Coast Guard in August 2008.[citation needed]
Continuing on with the Q400, the 1,000th Dash 8 was delivered in November 2010.[10]
Production
[edit]Bombardier aimed to produce the Q400 more economically. A deal with its machinists union in June 2017 allowed the assembly of the wings and cockpit section outside Canada and searches for potential partners commenced.[11] Bombardier expected to produce the cockpit section in its plant in Queretaro, Mexico, outsourcing the wings to China's Shenyang Aircraft Corp, which already builds the Q400's centre fuselage.[11] The Q400 components are chemically milled while older variants are assembled from bonded panels and skins.[12]
The production of the Dash 8 Series 100 stopped in 2005, and that of the Series 200 and 300 in 2009.[13]
Proposed Q400X stretch
[edit]Bombardier proposed the development of a Q400 stretch with two plug-in segments, called the Q400X project, in 2007.[14] It would compete in the 90-seat market range.[15] In response to this project, as of November 2007[update], ATR was studying a 90-seat stretch.[16]
In June 2009, Bombardier commercial aircraft president Gary Scott indicated that the Q400X would be "definitely part of our future" for possible introduction in 2013–14, although he did not detail the size of the proposed version or commit to an introduction date.[17]
In July 2010, Bombardier's vice president, Phillipe Poutissou, made comments explaining the company was still studying the prospects of designing the Q400X and talking with potential customers. At the time, Bombardier was not as committed to the Q400X as it had been previously.[18] In May 2011, Bombardier was still strongly committed to the stretch but envisioned it more likely as a 2015 or later launch. The launch date was complicated by new powerplants from GE and PWC to be introduced in 2016.[19] In February 2012, Bombardier was still studying the issue, at least a three-year delay was envisioned.[20]
In October 2012, a joint development deal with a government-led South Korean consortium was revealed, to develop a 90-seater turboprop regional airliner, targeting a 2019 launch date. The consortium was to have included Korea Aerospace Industries and Korean Air Lines.[21]
High-density, 90-seat Q400
[edit]At the February 2016 Singapore Airshow, Bombardier announced a high-density, 90-seat layout of the Q400, which would enter service in 2018; keeping the 28 in (71 cm) seat pitch of the Nok Air 86-seats, an extra row of seats is allowed by changing the configuration of the front right door and moving back the aft pressure bulkhead. The payload is increased by 2,000 pounds (910 kg) and the aircraft maintenance check intervals are increased: 800 hours from 600 for an A-check and 8,000 hours from 6,000 for a C-check.[22] By August 2018, the 90-seat variant was certified before delivery to launch customer SpiceJet later in the same year.[23] In March 2021, EASA certified the 90-seat variant for European operations; DHC believed that there were opportunities with prospective European customers as of 2021[update].[24]
Sale to Longview, reviving the De Havilland Canada name
[edit]On November 8, 2018, Canadian company Longview Aviation Capital Corporation, through its subsidiary Viking Air, acquired the entire Dash 8 program and the de Havilland brand from Bombardier, in a deal that would close by the second half of 2019.[25] Viking had already acquired the discontinued de Havilland Canada aircraft model type certificates in 2006.[26]
By November 2018, the sales of the higher-performance Q400 were slower than the cheaper aircraft from ATR.[27] Bombardier announced the sale was for $300 million and expected $250 million net.[28] The sale was projected by Bombardier to result in $250 million annual savings.[29]
In January 2019, Longview announced that it would establish a new company in Ontario, reviving the de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada name, to continue production of the Q400 and support the Dash 8 range.[30] By February, the program sale was expected to close at the end of September.[31]
On June 3, 2019, the sale was closed with the newly formed De Havilland Canada (DHC) taking control of the Dash 8 program, including servicing the previous -100, -200, and -300 series. Production of the Q400 was planned to continue at the Downsview, Toronto production facility, under DHC's management.[3] De Havilland was considering a 50-seat shrink, as North American airlines operate 870 ageing 50-seaters, mostly CRJs and Embraer ERJs.[32]
There were 17 Dash 8s scheduled for delivery in 2021, and De Havilland planned to pause production after those, while the factory lease expired in 2023.[33]
On February 17, 2021, DHC announced a pause in production, planned for the second half of 2021, due to a lack of Dash 8 orders from airlines. The manufacturer planned to vacate its Downsview Toronto facility and lay off 500 employees in the process.[34][35] The lay-off notice resulted in Unifor, the union representing the workers, demanding a government bail-out. The company planned to restart production after the pandemic at a new location.[35]
In July 2022, DHC announced that it would review the Dash 8 programme and supply chain later in the year, and could restart production in the middle of the decade if conditions allowed. The Calgary site, where the company produced DHC-6 Twin Otters, was originally envisioned as the venue for Dash 8 production.
Per a property transaction made by Bombardier prior to the 2019 sale to DHC, DHC decommissioned its Downsview, Toronto, manufacturing facility in August 2022, and in 2023 confirmed its plans to restart Dash 8 production in Wheatland County, Alberta, outside of Calgary, by 2033.[36]
At the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2024, DHC announced orders for seven Series 400 aircraft, including one for Skyward Express, two for Widerøe, and one for the Tanzania Government Flight Agency. The company also announced the launch of a factory refurbishment programme, for which 28 aircraft had been purchased, along with new freighter and combi aircraft conversion kits; one of the latter had been ordered by Advantage Air, DHC said.[37]
Hydrogen-electric powertrain
[edit]In December 2021, DHC entered into a partnership with ZeroAvia with a view to offering the ZA-2000 hydrogen-electric propulsion as an option for the DHC-8, as a line-fit option for new aircraft and as an approved retrofit for existing aircraft.[38][39] In May 2023, ZeroAvia unveiled a DHC-8 Q400 donated by Alaska Airlines for use as a testbed aircraft.[40]
Design
[edit]_(11473432873).jpg)
Distinguishing features of the Dash 8 design are the large T-tail intended to keep the tail free of prop wash during takeoff, a very high aspect ratio wing (around 12:1), the elongated engine nacelles also holding the rearward-folding landing gear, and the pointed nose profile.
The Dash 8 design has better cruise performance than the Dash 7, is less expensive to operate, and is much less expensive to maintain, due largely to having only two engines. It is a little noisier than the Dash 7 and cannot match the STOL performance of its earlier DHC forebears, although it is still able to operate from small airports with runways 3,000 ft (910 m) long, compared to the 2,200 ft (670 m) required by a fully laden Dash 7.
Regional jet competition
[edit]The introduction of the regional jet altered the sales picture. Although more expensive than turboprops, regional jets allow airlines to operate passenger services on routes not suitable for turboprops. Turboprop aircraft have lower fuel consumption and can operate from shorter runways than regional jets, but have higher engine maintenance costs, shorter ranges, and lower cruising speeds.[41]
When world oil prices drove up short-haul airfares in 2006, an increasing number of airlines that had bought regional jets began to reassess turboprop regional airliners, which use about 30–60% less fuel than regional jets. Although the market was not as robust as in the 1980s when the first Dash 8s were introduced, 2007 had increased sales of the only two 40+ seat regional turboprops still in western production, Bombardier's Q400 and its competitor, the ATR series of 50– to 70-seat turboprops. The Q400 has a cruising speed close to that of most regional jets, and its mature engines and systems require less frequent maintenance, reducing its disadvantage.[42]
Variants
[edit]The aircraft has been delivered in four series. The Series 100 has a maximum capacity of 39, the Series 200 has the same capacity but offers more powerful engines, the Series 300 is a stretched, 50-seat version, and the Series 400 is further stretched to a maximum of 90 passengers.[43] Models delivered after 1997 have cabin noise suppression and are designated with the prefix "Q".[44] Production of the Series 100 ceased in 2005, followed by the 200 and 300 in 2009, leaving the Q400 as the only series still in production.
Series 100
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The Series 100 was the original 37-39 passenger version of the Dash 8 that entered service in 1984. The original engine was the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 and later units used the PW121. Rated engine power is 1,800 shp (1,340 kW).
- DHC-8-101
- 1984 variant powered by either two PW120 or PW120A engines and a 33,000 lb (15,000 kg) takeoff weight.
- DHC-8-102
- 1986 variant powered by either two PW120A or PW121 engines and a 34,500 lb (15,650 kg) takeoff weight.
- DHC-8-103
- 1987 variant powered by two PW121 engines and a 34,500 lb (15,650 kg) takeoff weight (can be modified for a 35,200 lb [15,950 kg] take-off weight).
- DHC-8-102A
- 1990 variant powered by two PW120A engines with revised Heath Tecna interior.
- DHC-8-106
- 1992 variant powered by two PW121 engines and a 36,300 lb (16,450 kg) takeoff weight.
- DHC-8-100PF
- DHC-8-100 converted to a freighter by Voyageur Aviation, with a 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) cargo capacity.[45]
- DHC-8M-100
- Two aircraft for Maritime Pollution Surveillance, operated by Transport Canada, equipped with the MSS 6000 Surveillance system.[46]
- CC-142
- Military transport version for the Canadian Forces in Europe.
- CT-142
- Military navigation training version for the Canadian Forces. Used to train Canadian and allied nations' ACSOs and AESOPs[47]