FSAirlines

Heya,

ANZAS is looking to replace our current fleet of Embraer 120s with a more modern aircraft, however we are puzzled as to which would be best! The aircraft would be used for short flights (under 300nm) domestic flights within New Zealand, landing and taking off from quite small domestic airports.

Thanks!

Have you thought about the SAAB 340? It can carry 34 people and is a nice plane..i dont think there is a paywere version out for FSX but there are some good free ones. Another good Aircraft in the Beech 1900D or the 1900C, Very nice aircraft, they only carry 19 people but are very nice to fly and land (i have the PMDG one very nice )

Hope it helps out

well it depends... do you want a 1-1 replacement or want to upgrade a little bigger, etc. also, by modern would that mean it has to be in production right now or can it be out of production for a while....

if i wanted a 1-1 replacement, i would go with the Q100 Q200, (200 for me). It carries a few more passengers and holds a little but more cargo, a little bit slower but has GREAT STOL capabilities to get into small airports.

however if you want to step up, you could go to the Q300 or Q400. personally again, i would go straight up to the Q400 for alot of reasons.

1) it has great STOL capabilities for its rather large size (4600FT at MTOW, and since you are only operating routes of 300nm, you shouldnt be that close to it.)

2) its cruise speed is 360kts, which is close to jet speed for the short sectors.

3) econimics- in RW its break even point is at only 25 seats with a 74 seat config and 20 in the 78 seat config. so if in RW you were able to fill that E-120 at 30 seats your still making money though probably not as much but you have the room to be able to expand/fill the capacity.

now you could also go to the ATR, but im not that big of a fan of them because of how slow they are (100kts less than the Q400). also could consider the saab 340/2000 or Dornier 328turboprop(or the jet) though i dont know how good these planes STOL capabilities are.

Ah yes,

I did forget about the old dash 8s (Q100-through to Q400)

I have done many flights in the Q300 and it is a very nice plane, Plus Qantas have a few so you do no you can get a good repaint in and around the Aussie Region..

But the Dash 8 Family does cost a bit more..

Yeah, I'm definitely looking at the Dash 8 family, however, would they be able to land and take off at some of the smaller airports? Some of the airports in New Zealand have rather small runways..

Copyrighter1 wrote:Yeah, I'm definitely looking at the Dash 8 family, however, would they be able to land and take off at some of the smaller airports? Some of the airports in New Zealand have rather small runways..

The 100/200 series is short-field certified, real-world Q200 performance at MTOW is 800m take-off run. The Q300 is just under 1200m and the Q400 is about 1400m. (The Dash8-100 series is no longer in production in the real world.)

So basically, anywhere an E120 operates, any Dash 8 will easily fit as the E120's take-off run is longer than even the Q400's.

Cheers

Malcolm

Looks like my mind is made up!!

Thank you guys!

Dash 8 Q400s or Q300s seem like the best choice in this situation haha

Good choice mate,

They are a nice aircraft to fly.

WIF1073 wrote:(The Dash8-100 series is no longer in production in the real world.)

The Q400 is the only one still in production. the Q200 and 300 line was closed down in may after the last ones were delivered.

flightsimer wrote:

WIF1073 wrote:(The Dash8-100 series is no longer in production in the real world.)

The Q400 is the only one still in production. the Q200 and 300 line was closed down in may after the last ones were delivered.

Yeah, I saw that in the trade press but I see that the company website still lists the Q200 and Q300 as current products, in addition to the Q400. Since there was only a backlog of 2 Q300 in the April report, I suppose they have now been delivered.

Since Widerøe took delivery of the first Q400NextGen a couple of months ago, I suppose that is what all future Q-series production will consist of.

Cheers

Malcolm

Anyone have any links for quality freeware Q400 model downloads? I can't seem to find any

I no there is a couple of good ones on Simviation as i used to have them for FSX, but then i got the PSS Dash 8 which is a very nice paywere aircraft.

just search on simviation..

WIF1073 wrote:

flightsimer wrote:

WIF1073 wrote:(The Dash8-100 series is no longer in production in the real world.)

The Q400 is the only one still in production. the Q200 and 300 line was closed down in may after the last ones were delivered.

Yeah, I saw that in the trade press but I see that the company website still lists the Q200 and Q300 as current products, in addition to the Q400. Since there was only a backlog of 2 Q300 in the April report, I suppose they have now been delivered.

Since Widerøe took delivery of the first Q400NextGen a couple of months ago, I suppose that is what all future Q-series production will consist of.

Cheers

Malcolm

yup for at least the next few years until the Q400X gets underway with predicted/hoped EIS 2013-14

Copyrighter1 wrote:Anyone have any links for quality freeware Q400 model downloads? I can't seem to find any

Personally I use the freeware package from the Virtual Porter website - http://flyvporter.org/aircraft/PorterDash8-Q400.zip - it is the best package I have tried. It is based on the Dreamwings model so you can easily find lots of liveries available on the web.

I am looking forward to the Majestic payware project being released, the screenshots look really good - but it has been in development for a very long time.

Cheers

Malcolm