First production engine for de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400

Citation

(1998), "First production engine for de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770faf.001

First production engine for de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400

First production engine for de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400

Keywords Aeroengine, Bombardier

The first production Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A engine for the new 70- to 78-seat Dash 8Q Series 400 was delivered to Bombardier. John Holding, executive vice-president, engineering and product development for Bombardier Aerospace accepted the engine during a ceremony at the Pratt & Whitney Canada facility in Longueuil, Quebec. The engine received Transport Canada certification 36 months from program launch.

Flat-rated at 5,071 shaft horsepower (shp) for take-off the PW150A turboprop engine is an advanced technology derivative and the highest power member of the PW100 family. Designed specifically for the Dash 8Q Series 400, the new engine has integrated much of the maintenance and logistics commonality established throughout the Dash 8 family of aircraft.

The PW150A design has focused from the outset on reliability and operating economics and airlines have played a leading role in the engine design, incorporating the lessons learned from PW100 airline experierience of more than 4,300 engines and 43 million flight hours together with the latest advanced technology from Pratt & Whitney. The PW150A features a new three-stage, increased flow low pressure (LP) axial compressor and single-stage high pressure (HP) centrifugal compressor, each driven independently by single-stage LP and HP turbines with the latest advanced materials and cooling technology. A full authority digital electronic control (FADEC), fully integrated with a sophisticated, easy-to-use engine monitoring system (EMS), offers a step change in ease of pilot operation, maintenance and data management, claiming to rival any new generation engine powering either the regional or major airlines.

A new high power reduction gearbox has been designed with significantly reduced propeller speed at take-off and cruise to achieve the low noise standards targeted for the Dash 8Q Series 400. Take-off has been reduced to 1,020rpm from 1,200rpm. Together with 900rpm and 850rpm at climb and cruise respectively, the Dash 8Q Series 400 will quickly gain the reputation as a "friendly" aircraft at noise-sensitive regional airline airports close to heavily-populated urban centres.

Scott Goobie, project director, Dash 8Q Series 400, said that extensive engine durability qualification tests, in-flight performance anti controls evaluation on P&WC's Boeing 720 flying test bed, and P&WC's and Bombardier's co-operative propulsion system integration rig tests have contributed greatly to the seamless transition of this new engine and aircraft. There have been no significant problems during testing with the propulsion system, which includes the engines, propellers and nacelles, he said.

Currently in certification flight test at the Bombardier Flight Test Center at Wichita, Kansas, the 350-knot Dash 8Q Series 400 is on schedule for certification and entry into service in the first quarter of 1999.