yeah I know…but a while ago…very quiet at present. I see they are active in P3D so maybe once that’s complete, they’ll turn their attention to MSFS
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I can’t wait for this one. The Dash 7 is a dream maker for any kid that saw one fly.
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I can’t believe these words are going to come out of my mouth, but here goes:
I don’t want another longboi Dash-8 with a glass cockpit!
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yes…trying to get them to do a -200 which is steam and enables ops into pretty small airports…maybe!!
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So here’s something interesting I just found out! …but first, a sort-of relevant story…
(Clear your schedule, and grab your beverage of choice)
I live in Hawai’i (on O’ahu, right near PHNG) and I used to work for Island Air (RIP, 2017) who flew DHC-8-103s when I was there. (37pax version). The most fun airport I think we had to fly into was Kapalua / West Maui Airport (PHJH / JHM). It’s a little 3,000’ (914m) non-towered, no precision approach strip super close to the resort areas on the western side of Maui. Now, 99% of the time flying in to JHM the Dash-8 would land, roll out all the way to the end, and then back-taxi to the terminal. That 1%? I was flying with a former Marine aviator (A-4s here in Hawai’i at MCAS Kaneohe Bay (PHNG)) - this guy flew the DHC-6 initially at Island Air, and had to be drug kicking and screaming to the DHC-8 when they phased out the Twin Otter. Ok, so… Marine in the left seat. Navy P-3 guy in the right seat. Me, a former Marine, in the cockpit jump seat.
So, here’s the location of the airport. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, that’s roughly the western half of the Island of Maui below. The purple “pin” is the airport. Here’s a link to the airport info over at AirNav. (the VORTAC in the center-ish of the image is Kahului Airport (PHOG / OGG). (thank you Navigraph!)
Exhibit 2, your honor. That link’ll take you to the Google Maps satellite view of the area. Feel free to zoom in, check it out. 
The approach like 99.99% of the time is going to be from the south, landing on Runway 2 as our winds are typically out of the northeast (“trade winds”). So ‘ole Hotrod the pilot we’ll call him, he plants this DHC-8 firmly on the piano keys. He goes full reverse (Beta? I’m not sure of the difference if there is one), max braking…and we make the first taxiway. I will swear on a stack of your most revered holy text. We did it. Yes, it was a normally scheduled flight, so we had pax. I can’t recall how many though. That’s friggin’ 692.39’ (210.9m) from the very edge of the threshold to the center of the taxiway. I promise you, this really happened. The P-3 guy didn’t say a word, just laughed when we turned off the runway. A-4 guy looked back at me and smiled.
Man, do I wish I had a video of that flight. I had a cell phone, but it being 2002, I’m fairly certain we didn’t have the ability to record with them yet. LOL, A-4 guy is long retired now, so if I had it, I would show it.
The typical approach to PHJH involved crossing the shoreline from the west at approximately where the golf course is at Ka’anapali, and then turning left for final at PHJH on Rwy 02. One thing to note (if you look at the Google Maps link with the satellite view) is the “gulley” (it starts as two, and then merges into one just south of the airport). That gulley was significant enough that it would cause windshear, and the pilots had to be ready for it!
So - now you know a neat story about PHJH, and you know how to fly the visual approach! Just because you stuck around, here’s a shot of one of the later (2011) birds Island Air (WP) as it was landing at PHJH!
Hahaha! Ok, back to the original reason for this post. The DHC-7-102 (59 pax. Wikipedia says 54) was operated by Hawaiian Air (HAL / HA) from April of 1981 to September of 1994. They had eight of 'em during that period. Just because I want to, here’s a shot of N939HA taken by photographer Perry Hoppe while at Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, on O’ahu (PHNL / HNL). N939HA was in service from December of 1981 to sometime in 1991. (Photo shamelessly stolen from Airliners.net)
The DHC-7-102 was instrumental in the development of PHJH. Here’s an interesting excerpt from the article:
The Kapalua Airport on the island of Maui in Hawaii was constructed specifically with Dash 7 operations in mind. According to state of Hawaii historical records, Hawaiian Airlines built this airfield and then initiated scheduled passenger flights with new Dash 7 turboprops on March 1, 1987. The airline owned this private airport, which is also known as Kapalua-West Maui Airport, until 1993, when it was acquired by the state of Hawaii. The 3000-foot runway length at Kapalua was well suited for Dash 7 operations. The three-letter code for the Kapalua Airport, JHM, stands for John Henry Magoon, who was president of Hawaiian Airlines when the airfield and terminal were constructed by the air carrier. Kapalua is currently served by Mokulele Airlines with Cessna 208 Grand Caravans.
According to this article from the WaybackMachine on the DHC-7, it had a takeoff requirement of 2,260’ (688.9m), and a landing requirement of 1,950’ (594.3m).
Another fun website on the DHC-7. Ha! There I learned one of the nicknames for the aircraft was the “Quad Otter.” 
Wow. I fell down the rabbit hole on the DHC-7. Then I found the penultimate page. Dash7world. It has every DHC-7 produced. History from creation to “the end.” Sorted by manufacturer’s serial number. Each page tracks the individual DHC-7 through all registration changes, too! Ok, that’s enough airplanes for the night. If you like flying in and around Hawai’i, check out this thread we’ve kinda claimed as our own. Aloha, and a hui ho!
(edit) Oops - PHJH is not lit at night. Please fly there only when there’s a full moon. (Thank you, @MachPixel)
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will certainly help to make the forthcoming DHC7 welcome in many hangars!!
thanks for that
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Ah, even more great news! -7 overflights between the Hawks & Tornados was a big feature of my childhood. A decent number of engines, too.
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Best post I have ever read on these forums. This was quite entertaining!!
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Aww, shucks! (deep bow) Thank you! 
I’m super excited for the DHC-7!
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With SWS involved this plane is one of the highest on my list now! Hope it uses native database and optimized for Nano VG and all! Please use the same audio design team too!
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Has there been any new info on this lately? I’m not on FB / IG anymore, but a little Google Fu didn’t turn up anything for me.
Any update on the DHC-7 progress?
I just asked over at their original FB post. We’ll see…
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At their Discord SWS wrote yesterday that the Dash 7 was “the big project right now” for them. No further details, however.
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Ah, great! Thank you for posting. 
…and guess who bought the PMDG 737-700 LOL 
My defense is that Aloha Airlines flew 'em 
Definitely “outside my wheelhouse” though. Lots to learn!
Reply from my FB enquiry:
Tom we cannot make progress reports unless approved by the customer. The only thing I can say is that significant progress was made.
It would seem that they’re under some sort of NDA…
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Gotcha. Thank you!
Ugh… development in a vacuum sucks! :\ Wish we could learn a bit more.
I had a rest from MSFS for a while, but back and just saw this. I cannot wait for this! I said months ago it is a shame that nobody is making a Dash 7 and here it is in development.
It will go great for my Antarctica missions in AH2.
if it is anything close or better to the Kodiak, we are in for a treat.
Awesome!
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good news …
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Thanks for posting this. Good news indeed. I personally don’t mind a toned-down simulation of the aircraft, so long as it flies and sounds good. I will take a good feel for the aircraft over having each circuit breaker functioning as it should any day. A limited development also lends itself to a more affordable purchase and with a niche aircraft, that is probably the better path to take financially. Anyway, this aircraft is one that I am very much looking forward to!
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