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Background
— Canadian Aerospace — DeHavilland Canada Dash 7 |
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“...no manner of luck at all!” – DHC’s Dash 7
The Dash 7 was the final DeHavilland Canada Short Take-Off and Landing design, effectively
combining the STOL performance of the DHC-5 Buffalo with
a bigger pressurized cabin better suited to airline use. Unfortunately, the Dash 7 hit its
stride in the midst of the 1980s recession. Nevertheless, the DHC-7 remains in demand for harsh environments
where only STOL will do.
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From the outset, the Dash 7 showed itself able to operate in very extreme environments – eg: the British
Antarctic Survey’s aircraft, at right. Perhaps the most interesting Dash
7 variant is the one-off DHC-7 IR-150 with its fuselage-top observation position and SLAR (side-looking
airborne radar) fairings. Created specifically to fly ice reconnnaissance patrols, the DHC-7 IR- 150 originally
covered the Gulf of St Lawrence, Labrador coast, and eastern Arctic approaches.[1]
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Slow speed manoeuvrability makes the Dash 7s well-suited to surveillance and reconnaissance roles.
Best known of the military variants is probably the US Army EO-5/RC-7 (right). Two Dash 7 served with
the Canadian Forces – as CC-132s (left) – but purely in a transport role, flying CF
personnel in and out of CFB Lahr in West Germany. This made no use of these aircrafts’ impressive STOL
performance. The CC-132s served the CF only a few years [2] before being sold back to DeHavilland Canada (by then
owned by Boeing of Canada). 412 (T) Squadron’s Lahr detachment replaced their CC-132 aircraft
with the Dash 7’s more airliner-like stablemate, the CC-142 Dash 8. [3]
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DeHavilland Canada Dash 7
Specs
Dimen:
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Span 28.4m, wing area 80 m2
length 15.1m, height 5.70m |
Power:
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4 x 835 kW (1120shp) PWC
PT6A-50 turboprop engines |
| Range: |
maximum 2295 km (1238nm) |
| Speed: |
cruising 428km/h (231 kts) |
| Ceiling: |
Service 6770 m (22200 ft) |
| Weight: |
12405kg empty, 19955kg max |
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The Enviroment Canada Ice Service was more enthusiastic about the abilities of the Dash
7 – they did not need faster transit times or airliner comforts. Their Dash 7 can stay airborne
for 16 hours. Aside from that distinctive fuselage-top observation dome, there are ‘bubble’ windows on
either side. There is a port in the floor for a mapping camera but the key sensor was SLAR which covers a swath 160
km wide (80 km wide on either side of the aircraft). However, sensors date quickly and, in 2005, this Dash 7
was withdrawn from active service awaiting an upgrade.
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That upgrade is now underway. This DHC-7 IR-150 has been flying Arctic patrols over the
Beaufort Sea (near the McKenzie Delta). But over the winter of 2007-08, a $5M modernization program will begin,
incorporating the same MSS 6000 sensor suite fitted to Transport Canada’s Dash 8 surveillance aircraft. The MSS 6000 remote sensor suite includes a
new SLAR, AIS (Automatic Identification System) receiver, infrared/ultraviolet line scanner,
electro-optical imager, and sophisticated data uplink and navigation equipment. The DHC-7 IR will be TC’s Arctic
Ocean Dash 8 equivalent with 4-engined safety.
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[1] These original patrols were divided into three sections. In the summer months, the DHC-7 IR-150 was based
at Iqaluit, with sub-bases at Resolute Bay, Inuvik, Fairbanks Alaska, and Thule AB in Greenland. In the winter months,
the aircraft was based at Summerside, PEI, to patrol the Gulf of St Lawrence. In spring, the aircraft
patrolled the Strait of Belle Isle and the Labrador/Newfoundland coasts from Gander.
[2] The two CC-132 Dash 7s were pure-passenger 132001 and the passenger/cargo combi 132002. Both
aircraft entered CF service in 1979. Serial 132002 was struck off CF strength in August of 1985. Serial 132001 was
struck off in April 1987 just after the CC-142 Dash 8s arrived.
[3] The CC-142 Dash 8 didn’t last much longer in CF service (after CFB Lahr closed, the Air Force was
anxious to be rid of the DHC utility transports). The name lives on, however. In 1989, the first of four
Dash 8-based CT-142 ‘Gonzo’ navigation trainers were taken on charge.
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