SHORT TAKEOFF AND LANDING 

This is an amazing aircraft; folks love to fly it manually. Some have said in beta testing that it is the best hand flyer available today in flight sim.  

Let me give you two quotes from a flight report by Capt. K. M. Jones.

"We were at Unst in the Shetland Island, landing distance available 2,001 feet. I had just landed a four-engined fifty-one seat airliner on that runway using barely half that distance something that could not be done in many light twins. We had on board forty passengers and four crew; landing weight 40,350 pounds. If that seems impossible, then you obviously don't know the Dash 7." 

What is barely half of 2001 feet? lol

"Its immense, hydraulically operated slotted flaps are the key to the Dash 7's outstanding STOL performance. They are almost full-span, only leaving room for tiny, rather ineffectual ailerons. At its maximum landing weight of 42,000 pounds the Dash 7's Vat is a mere 83 knots with 45 degrees of flap extended, decreasing to 71 knots at 32,000 pounds. These are light aircraft speeds for light aircraft runways, but the Dash 7 is not a light aircraft!"

That's 71 knots at 32,000 pounds. That bears repeating!

We are very excited about the possibilities for the Dash 7 in "de Havilland" country. There will be a special version just for the bush .... a cargo version with a really nice loading door.

Specs: 
Cargo door (fwd, port, optional): 
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 
Width 2.31 m (7 ft 7 in) 
Height to sill approx. 1.22 m (4 ft 0 in) 

This baby will haul some cargo in some really tight places. 

And, with the FS2002 realistic steering, she will turn around on a dime, right on the runway, no matter what it's made of. I just added this tonight. 120 degree steering and she will pivot on one wheel.

Tight places to get into? No problem. Designed to approach at 7 1/2 degrees, 1000FPM, and touchdown on long suspension struts to absorb the shock. 24 inches of travel on this Dash 7 sucks up a lot of bumps.

Takeoff? Quote "Two stages (25 degrees) of flaps are normally used for take-off, which can be a breathtaking affair for the uninitiated. It is not so much the speeds involved, which are modest enough, but the rapidity with which the aircraft accelerates, typically twelve seconds from brakes-off to rotate speed."

More? "A positive pull-back to eight degrees of pitch produces a firm step into the air with a Vr (rotate speed) of just 78 knots at the maximum take-off weight of 44,000 pounds. Acceleration to V2 (engine-out safety speed) is almost instantaneouus, and the initial climb is made at V2 plus ten knots until the gear is up and the flaps are retracted to fifteen degrees. The flaps are completely raised at 400 feet above ground level, when the speed is increased to 125 knots which gives a rate-of-climb comfortably in excess of 1,000 feet a minute. Once the aircraft is through the safety-height for terrain clearance an en-route climb speed of 150-170 knots is adopted until the cruising level is reached."

Our Dash 7 Captain says he climbed out at 110kias at 1900 FPM, SOP. That should clear the trees okay, reckon? lol

We are extremely excited by this aircraft if you cannot tell. It is one awesome flyer. Be careful though, you can get hooked on it making it hard to fly anything else. 

By the way, for those 900 foot runways that you should not have landed at, and stopped at the edge of the clift? The reversers will easily push you backwards to a safe turnaround spot. 

But, don't take my word for it, try it yourself. I believe you will truly enjoy the experience.

Milton Shupe
Designer and Project Manager
The Dash 7 Project
09/07/2002
www.flightsimonline.com/dash7