Dash 8 Q100 and Embraer 120... Which of these two can I use as a jump plane for sky divers?

cptmickey

cptmickey

New Member
For the people rated on these aircrafts could you kindly share more than saying possible or impossible and add some technical information to support your answer. Such as Yes possible because of low flight speed due to dirty configuration etc

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I definitely don't think the Brasilia would be a good choice... What with the whirling blades of death next to the door and all.

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I think the baby dash has lower ref speeds than the EMB120. Higher lift wing and they still had some STOL ops in mind when they designed it.

They'd both be possible. It'd more or less be like jumping out of a king air. Kind of fast for jumping out of a side door, but doable.
 
z987k said:
I think the baby dash has lower ref speeds than the EMB120. Higher lift wing and they still had some STOL ops in mind when they designed it.

They'd both be possible. It'd more or less be like jumping out of a king air. Kind of fast for jumping out of a side door, but doable.
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Thank you for the advice. I am getting both i think.... Will definitely post some pictures in a couple of weeks... Seeing the planes tomorrow


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Derg said:
Wasn't the Brasilia kind of intended for South American paramilitary activites?
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Hi Derg, yes it was but I cant seem to find a picture online of it doing jumps. If anyone has a link that I can see one please do share it with me

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I’d think that the E110 Bandeirante would probably be better as a jump plane than the E120.
 
I have no clue what capabilities you need for a jump plane. But, you could probably get a Dash down to 110-120 dirty. It's high wing and T-tail, which seems like it would be advantageous. IDK, I suppose someone's come up with an STC to open the rear cargo door from the inside, but there's no handle on the inside of the passenger version.
 
Derg said:
Wasn't the Brasilia kind of intended for South American paramilitary activites?
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Can't find the reference, but it was definitely designed for it. The rear right emergency exit is where they jumped out of. The door was bigger than the other exits and the seats were spaced more than 3 feet apart...
 
Hammertime said:
I have no clue what capabilities you need for a jump plane. But, you could probably get a Dash down to 110-120 dirty. It's high wing and T-tail, which seems like it would be advantageous. IDK, I suppose someone's come up with an STC to open the rear cargo door from the inside, but there's no handle on the inside of the passenger version.
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You just leave the door off in all likelihood.
 
The Dash at lightweight and flaps 35 can have ref speeds below 100 knots. There is also a pass-through built into the rear bulkhead that allows access to the cargo compartment. You couldn’t get through with a chute on, but I’m sure someone can mod it or something for. Demo’d Landing distances are under 2000 ft paved and dry and I have no reason to doubt that number, I’ve only come close a few times(no pax). The Dash supposedly can operate from unimproved fields too.
 
launchpad said:
Can't find the reference, but it was definitely designed for it. The rear right emergency exit is where they jumped out of. The door was bigger than the other exits and the seats were spaced more than 3 feet apart...
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Yes correct the rear cargo door is big enough to have jumpers exit easily. I am leaning more to the E120 currently and really think it will work out. I am receiving one tomorrow (guess this is it). I have hired it till Monday and will try a few jumps on it over the weekend. Ill get a dash next week to do the same.

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Vref, flaps 45, on the Brasilia-ER, at 25,794lbs (MLW) is 116 knots (how I can remember that and not anything more recent or useful, I don't fully understand o_O). I don't remember what it was at lower weights, but the thing WILL go plenty slow.

cptmickey said:
Yes correct the rear cargo door is big enough to have jumpers exit easily. I am leaning more to the E120 currently and really think it will work out. I am receiving one tomorrow (guess this is it). I have hired it till Monday and will try a few jumps on it over the weekend. Ill get a dash next week to do the same.

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I'd be interested to see more about this for nostalgia's sake. I know the Brazilian Air Force uses the airplane for dive operations, but they've probably got some extra mods done. Dependent upon the configuration of the airplane, the interior modifications to get to the cargo door inflight may be trivial or may be significant.

IMPORTANT: Don't be a poop-bag operation (like many dive ops are, bluntly) about taking care of the propellers on the Brasilia. They are fail-deadly, not fail-safe/operational. This has obvious implications for your maintenance budget and procedures. In terms of what that means to the pilots, the feathering check (both manual and automatic) should be accomplished every flight, and any oddities in feathering or unfeathering, including failure to observe a consistent Np whenever a propeller is feathered through whichever means, should receive the prompt attention of maintenance. Prolonged ground operation above GND IDLE/MIN RPM should also be avoided.
 
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