From ROK on Q
 

Greetings all,

I had the chance to sample the new Q400 when returning from ROK this pm. I'm not very good at trip reports, but a couple of observations:

• Cabin - bright and airy, with fairly dull greyish seats in fabric
• Legroom - much better than the Q300 I flew on yesterday - methinks 32"
• "Q" - yes this is much quieter than the Q300, which is itself a bit quieter than the Crash-8 100/200
• Performance - this thing gets up and goes. Very impressive acceleration, short ground run, then jet-like rate of climb to 25,000 feet

But the main sensation was one of "smoothness". Those of you who've flown a DHC-8 would recall a lot of vibration at idle thrust and some vibration the rest of the time. The Q400 is virtually vibration-free, with some creeping in at full power. Cruise was nice and quiet, and it certainly *feels* quicker than the Q300.

Best seat in the house? Still 1B due to the shortened bulkhead.

And hopefully I'll get my 400 bonus points:

www.qantas.com/q400

:)

Yeah nice planes.

Here is what I posted on another forum:

"
The planes are big compared to a Dash-8 300. Much longer and taller. Imagine a stretch limo. Well that's what it looks like next to a Dash 8-300... let alone what it looks like next to a Dash-8 200!

Inside, the planes are quite nice. If you fly Dash-8 300's then it will be very familiar.

Most of what is inside is the same. Including seat pitch (well I didn't notice any difference, but didn't have a tape measure to double check!)

No more Seats 1CDEF though, they are replaced with a bulkhead.

The best seat would be 1A or 1B. Plenty of legroom. 2CD is also ok, but the bulkhead restricts the legs stretching out too much. Seats 2CD are exit row.

As per the 300's (and I think 200's), there is no recline on the seats.

The seats are cloth. Fairly comfy, but (as per earlier Dash8's) no "wings" or anything similar to support the head if trying to sleep. Window is best if you want to do that.

No onboard entertainment, bar the magazines handed out/ looking out the window (as per earlier planes).

3 FA's on board compared to the 300 which normally has 2 (I think they also sometimes have three on the 300's?)

The engines are real beasts! Taking off, they scream down the runway a lot faster than earlier planes. The new engines also ensure that your journey is shorter than the earlier Dash8 series. The trip to ROK is now about 10-15 minutes shorter.

Inside the cabin, the vibration and noise has been reduced a lot from 300's and 200's. You can still hear the engines whirring, but it is a lot quieter. There is minimal vibration.

Overall a very nice plane. The Qantaslink staffers and service were top notch as per usual.
"

Mal,

Sorry our schedules clashed per PM.

This has been posted on AFF (if I'm allowed to mention??)

The introduction of the stretch Crash 8 has required a repaint of the taxi paths at BNE, with only 3 new tenuous tracks remaining from the former linemarking maze.
The Q400 is an elegant bird now with her extensions, but somewhat ungainly with the belly strakes jutting out from the rear. The 6 bladed props (Beta subsonic I think) give it a purposeful stance and get a damn good grip on the airflow as I was about to experience.
There’s going to be many sore heads on this craft as the port overhead locker intrudes into the boarding space next to the door – beware. Allocated 6D put me one row in front of the prop but there were only about 10 heads in front of me, so QF2358 (VH-QOB “Rockhampton” appropriately) was by no means full.

Interior is very bright with light gray coloured linings, but the cloth seat trim looks like it came out of a Spotlight catalogue. Leg room for my 6’2” was exceptional with a good 2” ahead of my kneecaps – slightly more than the 300 I believe. No recline as in the 300. The 3 FA’s got the drill going smoothly and we taxied quietly out to runway 01 and launched with excellent thrust from the big props after a quite short takeoff roll. Its my impression that the Q400 is about 10-15% quieter than the 300.

Waiting in the Rockvegas QP for my return I noticed that the Q400 mimics its smaller brethren by having its landing lights flashing alternatively – this is driving me nuts figuring out why, because the Q400 has a faster flying envelope than the 300 and can’t be slowing everything else down. Maybe I should enquire via PPrune tech stuff.

The return trip was affected by storms in BNE and I am convinced we must have overflown Roma on the way back to BNE to avoid. I got the last of the food boxes (in 6D again) before they shut down the service due to impending turbulence Had to hold for 20 minutes before approach and after landing found there were no bays for us, so we parked closer to Moreton Bay than I have been for a while. Waited for buses in downpour and then endured a 40-minute wait for baggage claim.
THEN …. there was the 150m taxi queue in the downpour – some very bedraggled looking women with their hairdo’s stuck to their heads in a not-glamorous pose.

Great aircraft to utilise on my frequent QLD regional trips and looking forward to the great service Sunstate are renowned for.

I thought if they only had 72 seats then only 2 flight attendants were required.

Bundy,

From my 6D, one FA did the forward stand-up routine while the other sat in 1B to hand her the accessories. The token male FA did his show further down the back.

I can tell you it was a crying shame to see the drinks trolley (smaller version than those on 737) approaching me only to be restowed due impending turbulence, so we all went dry until disembarking - literally!

Other noticeable difference in Q400 was that it now requires a conveyor for its luggage handling - no more chucking.

I's stunned...firstly - a post from Willyroo, secondly - he started a thread :o, lastly (falling off my chair) - a TR.

I'm hoping to get on one in the next month...thanks for the info.

(I can see the sarcasm and retorts flowing back already :D- heh, a post from QF WP, thought he'd slid off the face of the earth...)