page_title: De Havilland Canada
section_title: DHC-8 Dash 8
hierarchical_section_title: De Havilland Canada / Post-war era / DHC-8 Dash 8
caption_attribution_description: De Havilland Canada Dash 8 (G-WOWA) taking off from Bristol International Airport, England Taken by Adrian Pingstone in May 2006 and released to the public domain.
context_page_description: De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. is an aircraft manufacturer with facilities based in the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original home of de Havilland Canada was the home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum located in what is now Downsview Park.
  The aircraft company was created in 1928 by the British de Havilland Aircraft Company to build Moth aircraft for the training of Canadian airmen, and subsequently after the Second World War, designed and produced indigenous designs.
  In the 1980s, the government of Canada privatized DHC and in 1986 sold the aircraft company to then Seattle-based Boeing. DHC was eventually acquired by Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace in 1992.
  In 2006, Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia purchased the type certificates for all the original out-of-production de Havilland designs.
  In November 2018, Viking Air's holding company, Longview Aviation Capital, announced the acquisition of the Q400 program, along with the rights to the de Havilland name and trademark.
context_section_description: De Havilland Canada began development of the Dash 8 in the late 1970s in response to what it saw as a considerable market demand for a new generation, 30- to 40-seat commuter airliner. The Dash 8 emphasized operational economics over STOL performance, which proved much more successful.
  Like the Dash 7, the Dash 8 features a high-mounted wing and T-tail, an advanced flight control system, and large full-length trailing-edge flaps. Power is supplied by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 series (originally designated PT7A) turboprops. The first flight of the first of two preproduction aircraft was on 20 June 1983, while Canadian certification was awarded on 28 September 1984. The first customer delivery was to NorOntair of Canada on 23 October 1984.
  The aircraft was introduced just as an older generation of feederliners was becoming too old to maintain economically, and  few other new aircraft designs of its size were ready for purchase; the ATR-42 entered service a year later, while most other designs (Dornier 328, Fokker 50, etc.) were only started in response to the success of the Dash 8. To date, over 1000 Dash 8s have been delivered. In April 2008, Bombardier announced that production of the 100, 200, and 300 series Dash 8s would be ended, leaving the Q400 as the only Dash 8 still in production.
caption: Dash 8 operated by Air Southwest
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