The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

 

Hello Aviators

Welcome back to the blog, this Blog will be discussing an aircraft that is rather small compared to other commercial airplanes, this aircraft is not widely known by people outside the aviation community, the aircraft in question is the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. Bombardier is a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that manufactures a range of planes including the Bombardier Q series, today we will be talking about the Dash 8 Q400.

History of the Dash 8 Q400

The Dash 8 series was actually developed in the mid-1980s with the purpose of creating an aircraft to service short-haul routes that typically did not have a large number of passengers. The series was sold to Boeing in 1988  so that the company could continue with the production of the aircraft in the series. In the early 1990s, the series was transferred back to the ownership of Bombardier who developed the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. The aircraft had its first flight in 1998 and started operations in the year 2000.

Specifications of the Q400

The Q400 was developed as a highspeed Turbo Prop aircraft and when it was developed, it was 30% faster than other propeller aircraft of the time. The aircraft is 32.8m long, has a height of 8.3m, and a wingspan of 28.4m. The aircraft is powered by 2 Pratt and Whitney PW100 engines that push the aircraft to a top speed of over 650km/h which is very fast for a turboprop. The plane can fly a maximum range of 2000km and can carry 90 passengers. This makes it the fastest and highest-capacity turboprop aircraft in the world.

As of 2019, 4000 of the type had been built, which proves that this is a popular aircraft, and its continuous use and production 20 years after it entered service shows that it is more than capable and it is very successful.

 

Fun Fact 

Bombardier, the company that makes this aircraft also has another division that specializes in making trains. The company has made trains that are used in major rail networks in cities all over the world. The most applicable example to us of a train made by Bombardier is our very own high-speed train, the Gautrain. 

Today's blog was very short but I hope you all learned something interesting, till the next time, STAY FLYING HIGH.