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Date: Mar. 18, 2011
Flight: Continental Connection Colgan Air 3457
SDT: 1:30p.m.
ADT: 1:40p.m.
SAT: 3:00p.m.
AAT: 3:16p.m.
Aircraft: Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 in the new UNITED EXPRESS titles
Registration: N209WQ, del. Jun. 12, 2008
Seat: 17D
Dep. Weather: Mostly cloudy, temp. ~67F, northerly winds at 15-20 mph
Arr. Weather: Mostly cloudy. Temp. in the upper 70s, wind south at 10-20 mph
This latest flight for me had a another set of “firsts”-my first time flying in the Dash 8 (allowing for comparison by someone who has flown in the ATR 72-500), first time driving in the Houston metro/southeast Texas area, first time renting a car etc. The main event was attending the wedding of one of my best friends. So it was with a mix of excitement and a bit of nervousness (the good kind, anyway) that I got ready and put my stuff into the car, and headed out to OKC (another “first”). After a relatively short drive, I parked in Shuttle Lot 3, which is close to the ATC tower, and went into the shuttle which picks you up at your car (only in this lot-other lots have designated shelters). Since Lot 3 is the last stop for the shuttle, and I was the only one in it, the driver dropped me off rather quickly at CO’s drop-off area. Having printed out my boarding pass the night before and having no check-in luggage, I went straight to the west security checkpoint (yet another first-I always go to the check-in counter-not this time!). OKC was actually much busier than I have seen on previous occasions, and although the lines were longer, everyone was kept moving at a good pace. After about 6 minutes I emerged into the airside of the terminal. Time for some spotting!
They're sure making good progress on the transition to the new United/United Express titles
UA 320 about to smoke the mains on 35L. UA/UAX now have a mix of mainline and RJ aircraft bewteen OKC and DEN
What I belive is a Dassault Falcon, I could be wrong though, my knowledge of GA aircraft doesn't go too far
There were several GA deps/arrs at OKC that day
A Super King Air and a Cessna headed to the crosswind runway
Now here's something I had never seen before. The tower gave both aircraft clearance to hold on the runway side by side, really interesting. Of course the runway is plenty wide enough, but still took me by surprise.
At about 1:00p.m. there was still no plane, so I knew this flight was going to be a little late. I saw the silhouette of a high-winged aircraft after some RJ and GA arrivals, and sure enough the turboprop landed on RWY 35L a few seconds later. My curiosity level just went up a few notches.
There it is, can't mistake it!
Boarding commenced at approximately 1:25p.m. with all rows. As is the case these days with most carryons and small planes, mine and many others’ carryons had to be gate-tagged for the cargo hold. Unlike the AT75, boarding is conducted through the front door with the Dash, when there is a Dash-capable jetway. And a small portable jetway extender has to be used to bridge the gap between the plane and the jetway edge. Only thing is, due to the plane’s nose-down angle, everyone above 5” tall has to duck while entering/leaving the plane or they can bump their head on the doorway edge. Once in the cabin, I made my way to seat 17D. This flight was about 90% full, and most of the seats in the back were empty. Including the entire row of seats in row 17, A, B and C
Onboard Colgan 3457 to IAH. Looking SE
Engines on and props spinning
Taxi to RWY 35L
There are of course two flight attendants for the Q400, one stationed in the front and one in the back. Both FAs (one girl and one guy) seemed rather disinterested and lackadaisical, but as much I have flown, been there, done that. Colgan has pre-recorded announcements for the safety briefing, but the actual demo is carried out by the FAs, similar to how AA does it. Now about the Q400 itself. The first thing I noticed about the engine start is when the props start spinning faster, there are a few seconds when the fuselage gets buffetted, and you can feel it moving in those few seconds. I did not feel such movement in the ATR. The second thing is, even though the Q400 has the AVS, the entire cabin, including the seats, the walls, the ceiling, everything was vibrating in-flight (fast, rhythmical movements) to the chord of the props. The AT75 doesn’t do any of that, it sounds and feels more like a jet. Actually, even the Brasilia (which I had flown back in ’00) and the older -200 variant of the 72 did not have cabin vibrations. Which brings me to my last peculiarity about the Q400-you hear the props. There is a continuous drone even in flight. All this did leave me wondering about the “Q” in Q400.
Some blue-tailed unmarked 175 about to get airborne
The entire OKC terminal
Gear up!
Some interesting aircraft on the AAR ramp, including a DL 319
You know, I'll never get bored of looking at DFW from way up there
I finally got the entire airfield in one shot-too bad the windows were scratched and dirty
Going back to the flight, Colgan also has a peculiarity with in-flight service. Its beverage service is just that-beverages. Even Southwest serves some snacks, but with Colgan all you get is a drink. Not that I was complaining ‘cause I had already eaten, but just saying.
On descent to IAH
The north side of IAH visible through the haze, while on a 26L downwind
Turning back for final
IAH's two north side runways visible (barely)
Houston, gear down
US 59 (Eastern Freeway) and part of Humble, TX.
As we flew right next to IAH's East Cargo I just managed to catch this Kalitta 741, part of it anyway
So I get to see tire smoke up and close and personal for the first time...
Taxiing to the gate... now comes the hard part-driving!
By the time our descent to IAH began, I was ready for the prop noise to die down. It finally did when we were on the downwind for RWY 26L. The approach was actually quite good considering the wind was pretty much perpendicular to the runway. The landing was understandably a little rough, but the braking that followed was probably the hardest braking I’ve experienced, including a lurch forward. I guess the PIC wanted to get off for traffic behind us. After a short taxi we stopped at gate A8. After getting out of the plane, I headed downstairs to the rental car shuttle pick-up zone. Getting the rental car, and then driving to Montgomery, that’s another story...
Overall, not too bad. The Q400, I’ll give it another chance. I do admit it is a fast turboprop, as far as noise goes, I don’t know if it’s just Colgan or if that’s the best noise/vibration reduction Bombardier can achieve. Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you liked it.
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