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OPINION: ATR and Bombardier Should Heed Embraer's Turboprop Warning
Bombardier could be forgiven for thinking the world is against it. With Boeing’s anti-dumping claims still ringing in its ears, there comes a strong hint from regional jet rival Embraer that it is serious about a return to the turboprop market. (www.flightglobal.com) Mehr...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I have never worked on an ATR, but I know they are harder to work on than the Q400's... Bombardier really screwed up when the came out with the 400. They cut cost where they should not have. The 100's, 200's, & 300's are solid fliers and a lot are not starting to time out, but they were great planes.. The 400's have a lot of redesign to cut cost and it shows. They have a great power plant and prop, but they redesigned the gear and not it is not reliable. They redesigned the wing and now they are plagued with Wing Spar Attacks and they break down all the time and are AOG for Parts. I can see why the 400's have dropped off... A good 300 is twice the aircraft in quality.
Yes sparkie624...the de Havilland Dash 8/300 should have been left alone. If they wanted a bigger turboprop, should have gone back to the clean sheet approach...yes Pratt makes a great engine and Dowty a great propellor but that landing gear is a mess.
"landing gear is a mess." - You have a gift for Understatement!
LOL...I could go into a more detailed "description" but if you have to service them, I can only say 1 thing..sorry.
Hi Sparkie24, Did Dowdy Aerospace in Mississauga make the 400 Gear? In your professional opinion, how could a re-efforted 400 came out, what does Bombardier have to do to improve the quality of a nextgen product in this Class of Aircraft? Thanks RK.
No, they wen with Goodrich... To make the plane better they would need to go back to the older heavier gear, and beef up the internal structure. These planes are already have corrosion issues when inspected in Heavy Checks and that was 5 year old info... I know that Republic had quite a few 400's and they have now gotten rid of them because they are too expensive to operate and take too many cancels due to maintenance issues.