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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3854.PDF
ombardier may have been the manufacturer that drove the regional airlines into the jet busi ness with its CRJ family, but the Canadian manufacturer remains at the forefront of the propeller-driven marketplace with its 70-seat Q400 high speed turboprop. The Q400 was conceived by de Havilland in the early 1990s as a major new stretched derivative of the successful Dash 8 family, offering new technology and higher speeds to compete with emerg ing regional jets. In 1992, Bombardier acquired de Havilland, bringing the manu facturer under the same umbrella as Canadair, which itself was looking to build on the success of its pioneering 50-seat CRJ with a larger 70-seat model. Despite the potential conflict between jet and turboprop models of almost identi cal sizes, both derivatives would eventually be given the go-ahead. Bombardier said it saw a need to have a foot in both the jet and turboprop camps as the latter would remain the most economic solution for short-haul and low-yield operations. Conceived to meet the twin require ments of offering turboprop operators a growth path as well as providing an afford able replacement for older jets on short sectors, the Q400 was designed to offer a 350kt (650km/h) cruise speed. The company's brave decision in 1995 to launch and persevere with the Q400 has been fraught with difficulties. The turbo prop market has been in rapid decline since the Q400 was given the green light, and despite being cheaper to operate, tur- boprops are seen as yesterday's technology. With a break-even target of 400 aircraft, sales of the 70-seater have remained slug gish - only 71 orders have been notched up in six years. The type's sales fortunes have not been helped by programme delays and a painful introduction into service. Last month, Bombardier took a third-quarter charge of C$264 million ($166 million) related to the non-recurring costs of the Q400 programme. Compared to the 50-seat Dash 8-300 from which it evolved, the Q400 incorpo rates a 6.8m (22.3ft) fuselage extension along with new engines, propellers and nacelles, flightdeck and avionics, and land ing gear. Most systems have been revised (see Flight International, 9-16 September 1998 for a full technical description and cutaway). The cabin, which accommodates 70 pas sengers in a standard 30in (78cm) pitch layout, is equipped with Ultra Electronics' noise and vibration suppression (NVS) sys tem to reduce sound levels to 75-78dB. Bombardier hoped this improvement in cabin environment would help eliminate passenger aversion to turboprops. Power is provided by two 3,420kW (4,580shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW150A turboprops driving Dowty six-bladed, all-composite propellers. The engines feature Hamilton Sundstrand dual-channel full authority digital engine control (FADEC). The Q400's flightdeck incorporates a new five-screen electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) with large liquid crystal displays and an integrated avionics system supplied by Thales. Delayed certification When the Q400 made its maiden flight in January 1998, certification was scheduled to be in place by the end of March 1999. But the programme was hit by a series of snags which delayed certification by nine months to December that year. The manufacturer also had to set up a post-production modification line to bring the first 24 Q400s up to current equipment standards. At the time Bom bardier blamed the delays on "certification, and production spool-up. We have a large number of partners to work with," it said. Q400 deliveries began in January last year to Copenhagen, Denmark-based Scandina vian (SAS) Commuter, and 47 aircraft are in service with seven operators worldwide. Three operators were interviewed for this report - Changan Airlines, SAS Commuter and Tyrolean Airways - which have all had the aircraft in service for over a year. Of these, only the latter was a Dash 8 operator prior to the introduction of the Q400. Alaska-based Horizon Air, the type's only North American operator, refused to take part in the survey. Although it was not the first airline to 30 4-10 DECEMBER 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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