I took it out for a short hop - KONT - KLAX. From cold & dark to ready to taxi took me ~15 minutes.
The engine sounds from start to full power are superb.
Built in views are many and varied. Everything is modeled, no shortcuts.The fuses are there and can be opened, all of them. I opened the Master Caution breaker and the light would not go on.

The FMC is functional, I believe it loaded my simbrief plan without input from me.

Trim - rudder - yaw (why rudder & yaw?) - pitch - roll, throttle, even the "while you're taxing" the spoilers are engaged, switch to Flight and they retract. Wipers, light, signs, name it and it functions.

Full disclosure - besides the base plane I got the extended cockpit addon. ~$80.

I also realize it's long in the tooth so most here are likely aware already. But if not and you enjoy these type of aircraft I do recommend it.
The more I fly (>2500 hrs) the more I am appreciating turboprops more and more. ATR, Dash 8, even the baby BN-2 Islander.

Totally agree: it's one of my favourite aircraft.

Here's my story: I had the Majestic Dash 8 for years and years and never could fly it well.

All that changed a few months ago, after I flew on a Dash 8 from Vancouver International to Terrace for a work-related function. There are still a lot of Dash 8s in use here (think Air Canada), so I decided to take the Majestic Dash 8 out of the hangar and really try to learn to fly it by the numbers. There are a bunch of really great YouTube tutorials, even if they are somewhat dated, which I followed as closely as I could.

I'm now at the point where I can start from cold & dark, enter everything in the FMC correctly, and fly the plane correctly, e.g., correct power lever settings for stage of flight, correct flap settings, and so on.

It's pleasure to fly, and I've gotten pretty good at landing, too.

By the way, I have the Training edition.

Today I was working on the AP and the gear refused to retract. Locking pin was disengaged.
I look online to see this can be a thing. Many ways of curing it. What I did was restart the scenario and it worked normally.

Some bad with the good it seems. I still think it's a great aircraft.

Oh yeah, the AP is neat!

On 8/16/2024 at 2:07 AM, Zatoichi said:

even the baby BN-2 Islander.

Hi, friend. Is the BN-2 Islander equipped with gas turbine engines? As far as I know, the BN-2 Islander is a pistons aircraft and has nothing to do with turboprop aircraft.

Edited August 20, 20241 yr by Jla6yx

3 hours ago, Jla6yx said:

Hi, friend. Is the BN-2 Islander equipped with gas turbine engines? As far as I know, the BN-2 Islander is a pistons aircraft and has nothing to do with turboprop aircraft.

You're correct. I meant I find myself moving from passenger jets to prop driven commuters.

Sorry for the misstatement. 

On 8/19/2024 at 4:17 PM, Zatoichi said:

Today I was working on the AP and the gear refused to retract. Locking pin was disengaged.
I look online to see this can be a thing. Many ways of curing it. What I did was restart the scenario and it worked normally.

 

If you're referring to the bug whereby you've confirmed that the locking pins are stowed but you still can't raise the landing gear ... yeah, that's happened to me. On the Majestic forum, Kroswynd identified that this was some sort of bug (see here) that was difficult to replicate and find a cause.

Like you, I restarted the scenario and it worked fine. This bug has only appeared once for me in many, many, many flights.

Yup, been enjoying this plane quite a bit even if it has a few quirks. The systems seem extremely top notch, the sounds are very well done and there is actually visual wing icing, impressive stuff.

I'm a bit shocked that Majestic's fancy external control program does not automatically enter the fuel and load data into the FMS and apparently they changed their flight plan format in the latest patch as now one MUST use SimBrief if you want a file to import a flight plan into the FMS.

Majestic Dash 8 Q400 has to be one the most valued investment I have ever made on P3D. I fly it quite often doing various short hops especially in Canada. It handles like a dream whether flying on autopilot or flying manually - smooth inputs on control surfaces. In fact Majestic is one of the few developers that is going to continue to support and develop for P3D. I am really looking forward to their Q300 and older models. 

Sort of off topic but not really, does anyone have and can share "http://download.tobyrayfield.com/Q400_Checklist_TR.pdf"

The link is broken and this checklist is supposed to be very nice.

https://flyuk.aero/assets/downloads/resources/checklists/UKV-PRD-DASH8 Q400-CHECKLIST-V1.pdf

On 8/16/2024 at 2:07 AM, Zatoichi said:

The more I fly (>2500 hrs) the more I am appreciating turboprops more and more. ATR, Dash 8

There is another great turboprop, which I am a happy owner of. It is Fokker F27-200 Friendship from Just Flight. It is certainly inferior to Dash 8 Q400, but nevertheless evokes the most positive emotions.

On 8/20/2024 at 6:45 AM, Jla6yx said:

Hi, friend. Is the BN-2 Islander equipped with gas turbine engines? As far as I know, the BN-2 Islander is a pistons aircraft and has nothing to do with turboprop aircraft.

There is a turbine version IRL.

Speeds about the same, but payload & climb are improved.

@Zatoichi

12 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

There is a turbine version IRL.

Speeds about the same, but payload & climb are improved.

@Zatoichi

Yes, I know, but this model is not in the simulator, that's exactly what I meant.

On 8/20/2024 at 11:45 AM, Jla6yx said:

Hi, friend. Is the BN-2 Islander equipped with gas turbine engines? As far as I know, the BN-2 Islander is a pistons aircraft and has nothing to do with turboprop aircraft.

There is a turbine version powered by allison(now RR i believe) turbines. Same engine as in a lot helicopters.

The Majestic Dash 8 has been on my personal aircraft wishlist for a long time.  It does sound like an awesome airplane and I probably will pick it up eventually.  I also love turbo props too 😀