Hey folks,
I’ve always loved the sound of the the Dash 8 Props running. Question:
What is the climb profile for the Dash 8? (Notably, what is the cruising speed after you pass 10k?)
I know that aircraft like the Q400-8 have a different speed limit then other commercial jets, and it’s important for me to know so I can fly realistically.
The climb profile is 150/210. Cruise is 210-230. The descent profile is 210. Landing speed is 97-107.
Here’s landing and takeoff. Might help 🤷
Where’s your information from? Those numbers seem very low.
A Q400 can comfortably climb out at 250 kts and cruise at that speed for lower altitudes. I can usually cruise up to 260 kts above FL180.
I got those numbers from Porter Virtual which relies on only the Q400.
I usually get my numbers from majestic software. They have some good information about the Q400 performance depending on your weight.
Would recommend that as well as the QRCs that were linked above.
http://majesticsoftware.com/mjc8q400/docs/PerformanceManual.pdf
There’s also a reference card in the cockpit as well. I sometimes use that if I’m too lazy to use the actual performance charts.
That’s where Porter Virtual got the speeds. :-)
260 is quite high for a Dash 8. Normal cruise speed is 230-240 kts
Hence why I said “up to”. 260 kts is the upper limit above that altitude but doesn’t cover all altitudes above 180.
So is it fine if I cruise at 200kts?
That’s about the minimum. The safe speed at cruise is from 210-230 kts.
In reality the Q400 standard climb profile is too slow. Therefore, we used to set climb power and 4 degrees of pitch and the speed is whatever we got. Which was usually close to the barbers pole anyway.
The minimum clean speed for a Q400 at all weights is 170 (190 in icing conditions) so you could comfortably cruise at that if you wanted to.
Above 10000 it is limited to 285 but that also starts reducing above 18000.
Below 10000 the limit is 245.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
