Toronto Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | ?m | ?s | Ports Toronto | Arup

Napoleon said:
I thought this might be pushing the range for a Q400, but apparently it's not too bad. The route is 930 nautical miles and the max. range of the Q400 is 1114 nm. Of course if there's much weather going on, might mean a few more diversions needed. Definitely will be Porter's longest flight, and an awfully long time to spend in a Q400!
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Isn't the range determined by a lot of things like passenger load and fuel load?

And, isn't the ability to take off from the Island dependant on those things?

So, given that the trip is towards the upper end of the range that likely means full load of fuel....does that mean, then, that they will restrict the capacity of the planes to less than full...which, in turn impacts profitability and price.

Any people who know more about this stuff than me (that is not hard btw) care to chime in on this?
 
TOareaFan said:
Isn't the range determined by a lot of things like passenger load and fuel load?
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Absolutely! Perhaps best illustrated by Bombardier's propaganda page:
http://commercialaircraft.bombardier.com/en/q400/Flexibility/Range-Capabilities.html
Plug in Chicago for example. That max range assumes a set of temperatures, winds, diversion and contingency fuel rules, etc. It also assumes a fully loaded plane with each passenger plus bags at 225 pounds. Temperatures also play a big role in determining take-off weights due to the change in air density and lift. I don't get the sense that they're likely to be weight-restricted unless the winds shift dramatically.

One sees weight restrictions much more often on trans-Atlantic flights as the airborne winds are incredibly variable. Additionally flights from higher elevations like Denver have reduced take-off weights, especially when it's hot.
 
Q400s are severely distance and/or weight restricted at YTZ due to runway length.

Porter doesn't fly non-stop from YTZ to Halifax (792mi), stopping at either Ottawa or Montreal on the way. Their seasonal direct routes have weight limitations.

Yet YTZ-MLB is 1073mi.

So there will either be a stop along the way or there are going to be MAJOR weight limitations.

Interestingly, YTZ-MLB is shorter than YTZ-Winnipeg. Surprised not to see that first.
 
CDL.TO said:
Q400s are severely distance and/or weight restricted at YTZ due to runway length.

Porter doesn't fly non-stop from YTZ to Halifax (792mi), stopping at either Ottawa or Montreal on the way. Their seasonal direct routes have weight limitations.

Yet YTZ-MLB is 1073mi.

So there will either be a stop along the way or there are going to be MAJOR weight limitations.

Interestingly, YTZ-MLB is shorter than YTZ-Winnipeg. Surprised not to see that first.
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People travelling to MLB will be wearing shorts and t-shirts....people going to YWG would need multiple layers of heavy clothing.....so you can fit more people on within the weight restriction going to MLB :)

Likely the more reasonable answer is that this is seasonal service over the winter......so, I bet, this uses planes from routes that are seasonal in the summer....whereas if you were adding YWG, that would probably be more of a year round service and would actually need new aircraft or taking planes from other existing routes. Just a guess.
 
CDL.TO said:
Q400s are severely distance and/or weight restricted at YTZ due to runway length.

Porter doesn't fly non-stop from YTZ to Halifax (792mi), stopping at either Ottawa or Montreal on the way. Their seasonal direct routes have weight limitations.

Yet YTZ-MLB is 1073mi.

So there will either be a stop along the way or there are going to be MAJOR weight limitations.

Interestingly, YTZ-MLB is shorter than YTZ-Winnipeg. Surprised not to see that first.
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Porter does fly non-stop to Halifax - its just a seasonal flight with most of their trips connecting as noted. I've been on the direct to Halifax, and it is a long time to be in a Q400.
 
Napoleon said:
Interesting. I wonder why Bombardier's material on their website shows such a larger range. Kind of an odd choice to add a route where you're weight-restricted from the start.
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Porter is limited by the length of the runway at YTZ. With a longer runway, the range of the Q400 is what is stated on the Bombardier website.
 
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CDL.TO said:
Porter is limited by the length of the runway at YTZ. With a longer runway, the range of the Q400 is what it stated on the Bombardier website.
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That makes lots of sense. The runway at YTZ is just over 1200 km. The assumptions in the Bombardier calculations assume almost 4,000 meters. Big difference!
 
A video capture of the CSeries doing a fly by of the airport tweeted by Sylvain Faust.
This view only lasts for a couple of seconds at the start of the video.

CO9QCw3WIAA8ewm.jpg:large
 
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