De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100
The original 37-seater that started the Dash 8 line · First flight 1983 · In service 1984
De Havilland Canada developed the Dash 8 from its four-engined Dash 7 as a cheaper, faster twin for short regional routes. The prototype flew on 20 June 1983, and the type entered service in 1984 with NorOntair in Ontario; Piedmont Airlines became the first US customer the same year.
The Series 100 seats 37 to 39 passengers under a high wing, with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120-series turboprops. The programme passed from De Havilland Canada to Boeing in 1986 and to Bombardier in 1992, and from 1996 new Dash 8s were fitted with an active noise and vibration suppression system, the origin of the 'Q' names.
Production of the -100 ran until 2005; 299 had been delivered. Many still fly in the far north and in Australia, and Widerøe flew its -103s on short Norwegian coastal hops for decades.
