Photograph:
de Havilland Canada DHC-8-402 VH-QOE (c/n 4125) of Qantas at Adelaide, SA in November 2011 (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Canada
Description:
Commercial airliner
Power Plant:
Two 3,783 kw (5,071 shp) Pratt & Whitney PW150A turboprops
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 28.42 m (93 ft 2 in)
- Length: 32.8 m (107 ft 7 in)
- Height: 8.36 m (27 ft 4 in)
- Wing area: 63.1 m² (679.22 sq ft)
- Max cruising speed: 648 km/h (403 mph)
- Max certified altitude: 7,620 m (25,000 ft)
- Range with 74 passengers: 2,520 km (1,566 miles)
- Fuel capacity: 6,526 litres (1,436 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 17,108 kg (37,716 lb)
- Max payload weight: 8,747 kg (19,284 lb)
- Loaded weight: 29,257 kg (64,500 lb)
History:
The de Havilland Canada DHC-8-400 was conceived by Bombardier in 1990, the type being officially launched in June 1995. The new model differed from the Dash-8-300 series in having the fuselage extended by 6.83 m (22 ft 5 in), and initially having 3,411 kw (4,573 shp) PW150A turboprops driving Dowty six-blade propellers with two port-side entry doors, one at the front and one at the rear. It also had a new inner-wing section and wing carry-through box attached to a strengthened outer-wing section. In the cockpit it had five Thales LCD colour displays which presented information to the pilots, allowing a common type rating with the other aircraft in the series.
The first Dash-8-400 was rolled out on 21 November 1997, making its first flight on 31 January 1998, entering service in February 2000. It has been described as the fastest non-military turboprop aircraft, being able to cruise at 667 km/h (414 mph) at 5,182 m (17,000 ft). Production aircraft have had the 3,783 kw (5,071 shp) PW250A engine and carried 74 passengers 2,520 km (1,566 miles).
In January 2005 Qantas ordered seven, and took options on the purchase of a further ten for use by its subsidiary, Qantas Link, for operations on its regional network. These aircraft were not to replace older Dash-8-200 and Dash-8-300 models, but were to be used on routes operated normally by Dash-8-300s when an increase in season or peak capacity was required. The first aircraft painted in Qantas markings was C-GAFM which was placed on display at the Australian International Air Show at Avalon, VIC in March 2005.
The first Dash-8-402 for Qantas VH-QOA (c/n 4112) arrived in Brisbane, QLD on 11 January 2006, the second VH-QOB (c/n 4116) arriving during February that year, entering service in late February on Queensland regional routes, mainly on the Brisbane to Rockhampton, Mackay Gladstone and Emerald routes, and later to Canberra, ACT and Newcastle, NSW.
The remaining five aircraft of the first batch became VH-QOC (c/n 4117), VH-QOD (c/n 4123), VH-QOE (c/n 4125), VH-QOF (c/n 4128) and VH-QOH (c/n 4132). In mid 2007 Qantas announced it had ordered a further 12 Dash 8-400s to add to the 11 it then had in service, with an option on a further 24.
By mid 2015 Qantas had 31 aircraft in service, all DHC-8-402s, the remainder of the fleet comprising at that time: VH-QOI (c/n 4189), VH-QOJ (c/n 4192), VH-QOK (c/n 4215), VH-QOM (c/n 4217), VH-QON (c/n 4218), VH-QOP (c/n 4238), VH-QOR (c/n 4241), VH-QOS (c/n 4263), VH-QOT (c/n 4269), VH-QOU (c/n 4275), VH-QOV (c/n 4277), VH-QOW (c/n 4285), VH-QOX (c/n 4287) and VH-QOY (c/n 4288).
Dash-8-402s registered in the LQ block comprise VH-LQB (c/n 4343), VH-LQD (c/n 4371), VH-LQF (c/n 4375), VH-LQG (c/n 4376), VH-LQH (c/n 4431), VH-LQJ (c/n 4414), VH-LQK (c/n 4415), VH-LQL (c/n 4449), VH-LQM (c/n 4450) and VH-LQQ (c/n 4461).
In 2020 Coulson Aviation in Canada obtained a number of Dash-8-400s and commenced to convert them to the firebombing role, one example C-FFQE (c/n 4325) arriving at Eagle Farm, QLD on 24 August 2020 for the Queensland Government Fire Service.