The last changes to the page are listed at the bottom of this page.
This non-commercial page is a private homage to the DeHavilland Dash 7 STOL airliner, designed and built by deHavilland of Canada at Toronto Downsview Airport between 1973 and 1988.
I have no affiliation to deHavilland, Bombardier, Boeing, or any company mentioned on this website and respect their copyrights and trademarks.
I learned to know and love the Dash 7 during 8 years as a First Officer and Captain with Tyrolean Airways. My first flight as a Dash 7 copilot trainee was on March 5th, 1990. The biggest airplane I had flown before was a Cessna 210. I will always be grateful to the Dash 7 for the easy transition from general aviation to airline flying. My last Dash 7 flight as captain was on May 6th, 1998. In between I flew about 2500 hours on the type.
Even as I moved up (?) to faster and more capable turboprops and now to quite modern twinjets, I will always fondly remember the Dash 7. I would like to keep the memory of a rather unusual plane alive on these pages.
More than 40 years after its first flight and almost thirty years after the end of production there still is no aircraft of comparable capability AND size and while operating economics have mostly dictated the end of Dash 7 operations in the busier parts of the first world, a couple dozen are still busy serving areas where these capabilities are sorely needed.
This page is not "mine" but mostly a collection of bits and pieces
other netizens, pilots and passengers have
have sent me. As this is strictly a hobby I am always late in
incorporating new material which is nevertheless always welcome.
Look forward to a scan of a Dash 7 sales brochure I just
found on Ebay.
This used to be my view of the world for several years.
For a partly illustrated list of all Dash 7s ever built click here.
I am still working to scan my (small) collection of Dash 7 pictures and find a compromise between acceptable quality and the small size required due to server limitations. Send a mail to dash7@at@aon.at if you like more pictures or if you have pictures for me. (please remove @at for SPAM protection.)
Tyrolean Airways Dash 7 with additional TAT markings at Courchevel Airport, France. Pictured during the Winter Olympics 1992. Click here. (32K)
More Courchevel pictures.
The author standing on a FAR Airlines Dash 7. (s/n 22 at Milano Linate, 1995) Click here. (22K)
A EuroCity Express Dash 7. Picture by Michael Blakesley who maintains a very nice webpage on London City Airways. Click here. (80K)
John Powell sent the following pictures of a London City Airways G-BOAX (42K) at the Biggin Hill Air Fair in July 1988. 12-minute shuttle trips between London City (LCY) and BGN were flown to bring air enthusiasts to the fair. Another photo shows G-BOAZ (57K) in the July 1989 morning sun after a Paris-CDG night stop. This airplane was the last but oldest to join the London City Airways fleet and was formerly operated by Maersk Air.
Final approach to runway 04 at Roi-Namur, Marshall Islands. Picture by Leon Burdick. Click here. (29K)
Hangar shot of two Dash 7s from
the Marshall Islands operation in support of the Space and Missile
Defense command.Picture by Paul
Wiebe.
Click
here. (52K)
Some Dash 7 pictures from the Tyrolean history book.
Links
to Dash 7 pictures:
Lots of high-quality photos are available in the Dash 7
section of Airliners
Net. If the direct link doesn't
work please click
More pictures are in the liveries section.
If you want to buy or sell a Dash 7 free aircraft classifieds are available here.
To achieve sufficient roll control despite the small ailerons two roll spoilers on each wing extend together with the aileron. By reducing lift and increasing drag on the inside wing in a turn they augment roll control. With all three landing gear on the ground and the power levers below 50% the spoilers extend to kill lift and increase drag on landing or aborted take-off. For the same purpose two extra ground spoilers on each wing extend on mainwheel touchdown.
Further aerodynamic "tricks" include different wing profiles for the outboard and inboard wing, a drooped leading edge, and a multitude of small fences, fins and "teeth" to energize and control airflow.
Four engines leave the airplane with 75% of total power and less pronounced asymmetric thrust in case of an engine failure. This reduces Vmc which in turn allows lower take-off speeds and shorter take-off runs.
The slipstream of the propellers covers a large portion of the wing, further increasing lift. This is also valid in the opposite direction with sudden power reductions during the landing flare killing a lot of lift rather abruptly, causing "firm" arrivals and light bruises to the pilot's ego. This effect is enhanced by the adjustment of the propellers which produce drag rather than thrust at flight idle. This de Havilland technology allows precise glidepath control by rapidly varying total drag/thrust without any aerodynamic devices. (Flaps 45° and flight idle result in about -20° pitch at Vfe45). With only 1200 RPM for take-off and as little as 900RPM in cruise the Dash 7 is a good neighbour at airports in the middle of built-up areas. Props are reversible for deceleration on ground but most of the braking is performed with anti-skid equipped wheel brakes (nosewheel brakes were optional). On a maximum performance landing the airplane will be stopped before the engines even reach maximum reverse thrust.
The Dash 7 can be certified for ILS approaches up to 7.5° - a normal ILS having 3° - and CAT 2 approaches down to 100ft/30m decision height and 300m/1000ft RVR.
Despite all this aerodynamical tricks the Dash 7 is no thoroughbred in cruise. Cruising altitudes above 17.000ft are advisable on cool days only, with the climb rate above FL100 solidly below 1000ft/min and a maximum cruising speed of about 215KTAS.
Take-off and landing is where the Dash 7 shines. Maximum Vr (rotation speed) is 85kts with an empty plane lifting off at 70kts. With maximum flaps Vr (speed over threshold) is a leisurly 83kts at max landing weight and 70kts for an almost empty plane. This allows for a landing roll of as little as 125m/400ft; rumour has it, that Dash 7s have turned off at by-pass intersections 70m/230ft beyond the threshold..... Spoilers, anti-skid and reverse make all this feel a lot more solid than light aircraft with comparable performance (e.g. C210, C340).
Wingspan | 28,35m | 93ft |
Length | 24,58m | 80ft 7.7" |
Height | 7.98m | 26ft 2" |
Wing Area | 79,9m2 | 860sq.ft |
Wing Loading | 247kg/m2 | 50.6 lb./sq.ft |
Operating Weight | 13.2t | 29.000lb. |
Maximum Take-Off Weight | 19.96t | 44.000lb. (47.000lb. for -150 conversion) |
Maximum Landing Weight | 19.05t | 42.000lb. |
Maximum Zero Fuel Weight | 17.69t | 39.000lb. |
Maximum Passenger Capacity | 54 | Tyrolean: 48 |
Maximum Fuel Capacity (Jet-A) | 4.5t | 9.926lb. (16.000lb. for -150 conversion) |
Engines | 4 Pratt &&; Whitney PT6A-50 |
Maximum Take-Off Power | 1120 SHP |
Maximum Continuous Power | 973 SHP |
Maximum Climb/Cruise Power | 900 SHP |
maximum cruising speed | 231 KTAS @ 8.000ft |
227 KTAS @ 15.000ft | |
Maximum Operating Altitude with passengers | 20.400ft |
Maximum Operating Altitude w/o passengers | 25.000ft |
Take-Off Distance (FAR25/ISA/sea level) | 689m |
Landing Distance (STOL/ISA/sea level) | 594m |
This is a size comparison between the Dash 7 and the B737-300 (thanks to Ito Noriyuki)
After WW2 the DHC-1 "Chipmunk" was DHC's first "own" model, followed by the DHC-2 "Beaver" and DHC-3 "Otter", two high-wing utility planes tailored for the Canadian North. They were followed by the DHC-4 "Caribou" and DHC-5 "Buffalo", two twin-engined high-wing STOL transports. The hugely successful DHC-6 "Twin Otter" continued the backcountry success of the Beaver and Caribou with modern turboprop engines and tricycle gear.
Development of the Dash 7 began in 1972, followed in 1978 by the Dash 8. In the mid-80s de Havilland Canada was sold to Boeing and renamed the "Boeing Canada, de Havilland Division". To restore profitability the Dash 7 and Twin Otter production lines were closed and the company concentrated on the more successful Dash 8. In 1992 de Havilland was sold to Bombardier and together with Canadair of Montral designated the Bombardier Regional Aircraft Division (BRAD).
If you don't want to travel to Toronto to experience the Dash 7 you can click here to download Tyrolean Airways Dash 7 files for Microsoft Flight Simulator made by Dennis Wasnich (82K).
Milton Shupe is currently coordinating development of a Dash 7 for FS2002. The project progress page is here.
A review of the FS 2002 Dash 7 model is available here.
Courchevel Operations were special because there was no way to abort the take-off after brake release, so special power setting procedures ensured that even a combination of engine failure and nosewheel steering failure could be handled safely.
It is a testament to the design qualities of the Dash 7 that she could land in Courchevel without weight limitations and incurred take-off weight limitations only under low pressure/high temperature conditions and even then those limitations were not severa and usually not operationally relevant.
You could also say that it's not that hard to take off, when gravity takes care of most of the acceleration required.
Martin Reiffer has programmed a Courchevel scenery for FS2000. This is just a first glimpse.....
For more information and ordering go to the Reiffer FlightSim page.
In late October 1999 S/N 113 is seen in Innsbruck in Greenlandair livery (click here for a picture). On November 18th, 1999 OE-LLU left Innsbruck after 11 years, ending the Dash 7 era at Tyrolean after a total of 19 1/2 years :-( (After flying as OY-GRF for Greenlandair named "Sululik" (Seagull) it was at Toronto Island Airport in 2016 awaiting refurbishment for new duties. Click Here to view another photo. (airliners.net)
The Canadian
Ice Service
uses the one and only Dash 7IR-150 for
ice surveillance in the Canadian Arctic. It is operated for Ice patrol
by Bradley Air Services / First Air for the Canadian government. From
January to March the aircraft is based at Summerside PEI,
patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. From early April
the straight of Belle Isle, Labrador coast, and northern
Newfoundland are patrolled from Gander. June is a maintenance
period as there is no sea ice in open shipping areas. From July to
October the arctic is monitored from Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay, YFB) with
sub-bases at Resolute Bay, Inuvik, Fairbanks, and Thule AB
(Greenland).
The primary support is to the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and its fleet of icebreakers who in turn support all shipping in canadian waters. A secondary role is iceberg surveillance as part of Canada's contribution to the North Atlantic Ice Patrol.
On deployment the aircraft has an aircrew of pilot, co-pilot, and engineer, with a mission crew of 4 ice service specialists and an electronics technician. Maintenance in done in the field with the aircraft coming back to Ottawa only between seasonal deployments, at which time any required major servicing is performed.
C-GCFR (s/n 102) was the first 150 series made. It was delivered in May, 1986 and holds 18,000 lb. of fuel (with two 4,000 lb. auxiliary tanks inboard of the #2 and #3 engine nacelles.) Fuel dumping is available for the auxiliary tanks to attain maximum landing mass in case of emergency. For normal operations only around 14,000 lb. of fuel are loaded. The aircraft can stay airborne for almost 16 hours with VFR reserves. Due to the extra equipment its operating mass of 31,000 lb. is slightly higher than the usual airline version. Althought the aircraft was built for a 49,000 lb. MTOM it is certified for 47.000 lb. only. (Which is quite a lot of mass to lug around in case of an engine failure anyway....).
It has an Observatory dome on top of the fuselage and bubble windows out each side and. A SLAR (side looking airborne radar) can take a continuous picture 100 miles wide. (50 miles on each side of the aircraft). The SLAR can see the ground or icebergs through cloud and at night. Radar and camera images can be sent to ground stations and CCG icebreakers via an S-band downlink transmitter. A glass bottom bay holds a Zeiss large-format mapping camera to take pictures out the bottom of the aircraft.
Additionally, it has a drop chute in the back to drop AXBTs (airborne expendable bathytherms that measure and transmit sea temperature from surface to floor) as well as beacons used to measure sea ice and iceberg drift. It has NATO type hard points under the wings but these are not normally used.
An APU is fitted in # 4 engine nacelle. Further equipment includes dual IRS and GPS (Omega and Loran C were fitted but have been removed), airborne management computer and peripherals, HF fax transmitter, M-Sat(voice & data). This aircraft reportedly cost the Canadian government 38 million dollars to build. (Info by Paul Hobson & Canadian Ice Service)
Additional info:
engines P&W
PT6A-50 (as per dehavilland specAEROC 7.1*G,31 Issue "6" Rev.1(DHC-7
150 Series) as amended.
avionics:
as per dehavilland spec AEROC 7.1.G*3, Issue "6", Rev.1 (DHC-7 150
Series) as amended.
C-GCFR over Bellot
Strait. (unknown photographer on SEDNA
IV,
photo supplied by Hugh Forbes)
Nice
side shot showing observation dome and SLAR antenna (photo by Paul
Hobson)
Click Here for a shot in landing configuration.
Fugro Airborne Surveys have selected the Dash 7 to carry their MEGATEM airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey system. Their Dash 7 is equipped with an impressive antenna system and various other appendages.
G-BRYB of Brymon Airways in standard livery (photo by Richard Hunt)
G-BRYD of Brymon Airways in special "Puffin" livery (photo by Richard Hunt)
Commercial photo of EuroCity Express' first A/C G-BNGF (sent by John Powell). Click here for full size (413K).
Drawing of Maverick Airways livery by Craig Hansen
Drawing of Rocky Mountain Airways livery by Craig Hansen
Drawing of Golden West airplane leased to Rocky Mountain Airways. Craig Hansen
PanAm Express Dash 7 in Syracuse, NY (?), photo John "Hutch" Stewart, submitted by Glen Charbonneau
PanAm Express Dash 7, photographer unknown, submitted by Glen Charbonneau
Ransome Airways Dash 7 over Manhattan, photographer unknown, submitted by Glen Charbonneau
PanAm Express Dash 7 in Miami, FL, July 1991, photo by Glen Charbonneau
very nice shot of PanAm Express Dash 7 over Narrangansett Bay, RI, ca. 1988, photo by R.K. "Bob" Berlyn, submitted by Glen Charbonneau
Ransome Airways was bought by PanAm in 1986 and renamed PanAm Express. (submitted by Glen Charbonneau)
Rio Airways Dash 7 (photo Bruce Goyins)
Adria Airways
Aerovias DAP (Antarctica XXI)
Aerovias Nacionales de Honduras SA (ANHSA)
Air BC
Air Guinée
Air
Greenland (formerly
Greenlandair/Gronlandsfly)
Air
Kenya
Air
Niugini
Air Pacific
Air
Tindi
Air West
Air Wisconsin
Alas Chiricanas, Panama
Alyemda - Democratic Yemen Airways
American
International Airways
Arkia
ASA - Atlantic South East Airlines
Asian
Spirit Airlines
Atlanta Express
AVCOM Aviones Comerciales de
Guatemala
Berjaya
Air, Selangor, West Malaysia
Bradley Air Services / First
Air
Branson Airlines
British Midland Airways
Brymon Airways
Canadian
Armed Forces (as CC-132)
Canadian
Ice Service
Carbocol Colombia
City Express
Conair Avaiation
Continental Express
Emirates Air Service
ERA Aviation (ERA Jet Alaska)
FAR Airlines
Far West Airlines
Fugro Airborne Surveys
Golden Gate Airlines
Golden West Airlines
Gulfstream
International Airlines
Hawaiian Air
Hellenic Star
Henson Aviation (Piedmont Regional)
Jetcraft
Aviation, Australia
Linea
Turistica Aerotuy, Venezuela
London
City Airways
Inter Air
Lineas Aereas Kaiken
London City Airways (previously Eurocity Express before it was found
out that the name had already been taken by the train :-)
Maersk Air
Mark Air
Maverick Airways
Mobil Oil Indonesia
Newmans Air
PanAm Express (former Ransome Airlines became TWA Express after the
demise of PanAm)
Paradise Island Airways, also operated as USAir Express, now merged
into Gulfstream International Airlines
Pelita Air Services
Ransome
Airlines (also as Allegheny
Commuter and Pan Am Express - see
above)
Rio Airways (based in Killeen, Texas, out of business in spring 1987)
Rocky Mountain Airways (first Dash 7 operator)
Skyline, Nigeria
Southern Jersey Airways (an Allegheny operator)
Spantax
Star Asia
Tassili Airlines
Time Air
THY - Türk Hava Yollari
Trans Capital
Trans World Express (formerly Ransome Airways and PanAm Express)
Tropical
Airways
Tyrolean
Airways
Venezoelan Navy
Voyageur
Airways
Wardair
Widerøes
Flyveselskap, Norway
The closest I have come so far is A case study on the de Havilland Family of STOL Commuter Aircraft by Richard D. Hiscocks, former DHC VP Engineering, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) which I found at amazon.com.
The technical data on this page is from this booklet as well as some other aircraft encyclopedia.
Jane's Transport Press' Air Portfolios 6 by Paul R. Smith covers the DHC-6 (Twin Otter), DHC-7 and DHC-8 but is out of print.
CANAV Books have published an excellent general history of de Havilland Canada by Fred Hotson which is available by mail order.
With kind permission of the author I have scanned a flight report from the 1991 edition of the UK Pilot magazine.
I got a
mail by Capt. Tom Bannon who has flown 36
different Dash 7s and
gave a lot of infos regarding "missing" numbers. His 36 S/Ns flown are
quite a lot more than my meagre two. Anyone out there who claims a
higher number or simply wants to get on the list between Tom and me?
Just send me a mail
with some info.
Barry Hubbard tops this with a count of at least 46 Dash 7s but adds
that he was Chief Production Test Pilot for the Dash 7. So second and
third places (or even new records) for other than DHC employees are
still open.......
This page is mainly built from contributions
made by visitors to the
site. Without their help and bits and pieces (as well as big chunks) of
information being passed my way I would not have been able to make this
site. I would like to specially thank the following persons:
Dennis Wasnich, Gerhard Beer, Danny Fyne, Michael Blakesley, Peter
Kuncic, Erich Kirchweger, Siegfried Steinlechner, Hawkeye,
Markus Köchle, Martin
Reiffer,
Arkia
Airlines Public Relations, Erik
Johannesson,
Dave
Gregg, John Powell, British
Antarctic Survey, Ito
Noriyuki, Andreas Karotsieris,
Jim Baumann, Kevin
Jones,
Matt Ellis, Rod
Dixon,
Leon
Burdick, Vladimir Kocevar, Thor
Johnson, Michael
Fritz, Richard
Hunt, Paul
Robson, Tom Bannon, Rob Koplitz, Chris Becht, Ray Knighton, Gilles
Daven, Paul Wiebe, Craig Hansen (who did all the drawings and deserves
special thanks for his Welcome banner. c/o American Web, 4040 Dahlia
St., Denver, CO 80216, USA), Richard
Woods, Juanjo Iglesia, Geir
Solbakk, Barry Hubbard, Markus
Herzig, Fugro
Airborne Surveys, Kevin
McClelland, Ole Johan Beck, Rolando Pedraza, Mogens Haahr,
Patrice Backer, Glenn Charbonneau, David Bromage, Paul Hobson, Hugh
Forbes, Lance Ross, Karl Mesojednik, Asian
Spirit, Peter V. Hartmann, Tony Gordillo, Ernst Nathanail,
Malcolm Douglas, Berjaya Air, Canadian Ice Service, Leo Kok Ole Johan Beck, Skov Peter Hjorth, Denis Bone.