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The Return of the Propeller
Both rising fuel prices and increased demand for regional air travel have changed the economics of flight over the past 10 years. Now airlines are once again looking to smaller, more efficient turboprop planes to handle shorter routes, driving the development of a new generation of prop-driven aircraft technologies poised to take wing by the end of the decade. (www.scientificamerican.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
If they'll get something in there fast it will work. If it's just another run of the old ATR's and SAAB's, the public perception won't change.
The Q400 has solved some of those problems. Cruises at 360 knots and has range of 1500 miles. WestJet is loading up on them as they are ideal for many of their routes especially in Western Canada where the cities are around 500-600 miles apart. Porter has 26 of them.
Yeah they are. I think the noise is the big thing more than the speed. The 400 has made good inroads into that part of it. Folks kinda feel like 2nd class citizens that have turboprop on their route. These go a long way to over come that. Back in the day, creature comfort was not really on the developer's radar. NWA used to run them old SAAB's out of MEM to FSM. I hated a late evening pax flight back into town or early morning out. They eventually went to CRJ200 to keep up with AA but AA went to the ATR's on a couple of their daily runs. NWA went back to the SAAB's on some runs and never went back.
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-8's have really quietened down, BUT, a lot of the noise thing is the airlines themselves and the way the birds are ordered, such as insulation, etc.
Part of my presentations at Gravelly Point/DCA include the use propeller aircraft especially as the Q400s arrive and depart. "Just because it has propellers, don't think it is from World War II". I explain the concept of why Horizon Air replaced their regional jets with the Q400 and the efficiencies.