Hi guys

As a newcomer to intercity I am looking for a little advice.

I have been flying with FSX for some years now. Most of my flying was bush flying, typically with Orbx scenery and in bush type aircraft. I was looking at the new Dash Q400 which is what led me to Intercity. Now on reading up on the PMDG JS400 I find myself unable to pick which aircraft to buy.

Its seems that both aircraft are equally complex so I was wondering if anyone could add some comments to help me choose.

The most complex planes I have flown so far are the Mustang citation , the iFly 737 and the Boeing 767.

Most flying time (and preference for bush) the real aire Turbo.

Any help would be appreciated as I need to get on with purchase/learing cuve to get my first flight in.



Thanks

Dave Palmer 1015

Hi Dave,



That isn't an easy question to answer as they're both great addons, sophisticated and complex as you've already said.



The Real Air Turbo Duke stands you in better stead than most for handling the J41 though, as they both need their engines babying if you want to avoid drama! Personally I still find the J41 more fun and challenging to fly than the Q400, but that's a simple matter of taste. The Jetstream is less forgiving to fly, it's very hard to scrub off speed because the engines always produce at least 20% torque.



There's less automation on the J41 and the FMS/EHSI isn't as sophisticated, so if you want a 737/767 style moving map and holding functionality etc you're better off with the Dash 8 Q400 (the J41 has a very basic moving map).



Also depends what kind of legs you want to fly, the Q400 can fly farther, faster and higher. The J41 is fairly pedestrian, plodding along at 270ish KTAS at around FL190 - if your heavy and there's icing conditions the climb can be tortuously slow too. There's no such performance concerns with the Q400, rapid climb to FL250 and blast along at 360 KTAS!



If I can think of anything else worth mentioning, I'll post again later.

I haven't flown the Q400 enough to develop a firm opinion.  I know that I would find myself going back to the JS41 at some point because it is an aircraft you will fall in love with.  As Chris mentioned, she is quite the plane with a unique personality.



I think to compare the JS41 and Q400 isn't quite fair as they were built to fill different niches.  JS41 seats less than half the passengers and as a result is a lot more nimble and perhaps more comparable to bush aircraft than the Q400.  You can get the JS41 into a lot more places than a Q400 because the runway requirements are less.



I think if you want something a bit more powerful, a more full featured FMS and navigation system, maybe a few extra "frills" I would go with the Q400.  She is a very well built aircraft that will take a while to learn all her eccentricities.  Q400 comes from Canada for which I'm slightly impartial to and from a passenger standpoint is a wonderful aircraft because it is such a very nice smooth and quiet ride for a turboprop.



I haven't personally used it but if you use FS2Crew, Chris I know loves that add on for the JS41.  They don't have, and not too sure if they will have, this add on for the Q400.



The Q400 has the promise to become more sophisticated over time as Majestic Software releases it's other versions of this aircraft, if that interests you.



I hope that provides some insight to help you in your decision.  You will not regret either purchase I don't think.

Oh wow. Tough choice. Own both. I bought the JS41 after a lot of peer pressure but could never find time or a place to fly it, and bought the MJC Q400 out of pure plane-lust. My experience in the Dash 8 is limited in the Q400 series. JS41 is an awesome way to get used to small field turboprop flying without automation. I'd say spend a few months in that, then upgrade to the Dash 8. That's what I plan to do.