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Unfortunately the link to the main article only works if you are a subscriber to the NATIONAL/FINANCIAL POST but...

The FINANCIAL POST has a front page story on the surge in orders Bombardier is getting for its Q400 series of turboprops, the successor to the DASH8 series. Air New Zealand has just bought another batch, and several other deals are in the works as airlines update their prop-jet fleets with these efficient and quiet [inside] puddle hoppers. Employment at the Downsview plant is up again.

The interesting part of the story deals with the new technology developed by Bombardier to reduce cabin noise and vibration. Seems they have adapted a variant of what is used in Noise Reduction Headphones. Microphones on the outside of the aircraft send sound signals to a computer, which at a certain level of vibration sets off a counter vibration device, which in turn cancels out the sound waves creating the initial noise/vibration. Or something like that...

http://www.canada.com/national/natio...x.html?rfp=dta

cattle

Whew, good thing it works that. Could you imagine one of those planes with a giant set of QC2's on the outside?

airbus320

This technology works. I flew a BMI 400Q in the UK. Quiet ride and practically no vibration.

Shareholder

Just like I can imagine a cow in a thong...

Stranger

This is good news. The Dash-6 is a nice plane, with an excellent safety record and good economics. But for a while its prospect looked dysmal.

Careful here. Yes, the newer versions do incorporate active noise control, i.e., a feedback loop that feeds acoustics with a phase such that they more or less cancel engine noise.

But claiming this was developed by Bombardier is a bit of a stretch. They are just buying this from some outfit that's expert in the field.

And this is not new either. I believe the first time I heard this was on a vist at Downsview some time in the late nineties. Might have been as early as 1997 or so. When they were getting the Q-series ready to market.

cattle

How about a cow on a thong?

LightingGuy

Give me a Q400 any day over the CRJ or ERJ. It feels a lot larger inside since the sides don't curve in as much as on the microjets.

cattle

I agree with LighteningGuy. I prefer the space to a shorter flight time. Besides don't the Q400's have a pretty good cruising speed compared with the Dash-8?

Arthurrs

Can you imagine being the pilot making delivery of these planes, having to fly it from Downsview all the way down to New Zealand?

tcook052

In a somewhat related story:

Magnifoam Technology International Inc. has won contracts to supply insulation for regional jets that will be bought by a restructuring Air Canada.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968705923364

PreferBulkhead

I would prefer a thong about a cow -- do you have one to share?

PB

Lee A Carney

And if they opened made the ferry flight to passengers, imagine the FF miles! Even better, the segments!

danielmhd

In regards to this noise-reduction technology, it's not new, but it's application has been limited thus far.

I believe that Saab integrated cabin noise-reduction systems into their rather short-lived Saab 2000 aircraft. But there are different variants of the technology and it's by no means perfect - the dimensions and idiosyncracies of cabin sound are obviously very complicated.

mad_atta

I'm interested to read that Air New Zealand has supposedly bought "another" batch - they have never been a Dash-8 operator as far as I know, with their current turboprop fleet consisting of Beech 1900Ds, Saab 340As and ATR72-500s. The Saabs are pretty old and creaky these days, and an announcement about their replacement is imminent, but nothing has yet been said officially. (The leading contenders were the Dash8-Q300 and the ATR42.)

Has anyone seen any other references to this supposed sale to AirNZ?

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It was early morning when I wrote this, and upon re-reading the article, acknowledge that indeed, Bombardier adapted this technology and did not develop it on its own. And ANZ and other airlines are considering this model but have not yet placed orders. Mea culpa.