New role for former Flybe Dashes
According to Fire Aviation, the Canadian Conair Group plans to retire all of their legacy L-188 Electra and Convair 580 air tankers. In the next two to three years these will be replaced by a number of De Havilland Canada DHC-8s, commonly known as the Dash 8.

For this purpose Conair has acquired eleven Dash 8s, that were flown by FlyBe until the company went bankrupt in March 2020. Said aircraft are to be flown to Canada within the coming weeks. They will then be converted into Q400AT (Air Tanker) configuration.

The Conair Group is experienced in the conversion, as they have already converted Q400s for the French Securité Civile (Department of Civil Defence and Emergency Preparedness) that ordered six aircraft in 2017. These Q400s were delivered factory-fresh by Bombardier and converted into Q400-MRs (MR = Multi Role, passenger/firefighting).

Conair has evaluated several aircraft types before the Q400 was chosen. The aircraft’s speed, manoeuvrability, and fuel efficiency were important factors in the final decision. The fact that the Q400 is still in production was another plus. This and the strong Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) support from De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (De Havilland Canada), guaranteeing availability of parts and servicing for years, were decisive.

Photos: Gert Jan Mentink (Flybe Dash8), T. Laurent, Tim Martin, and Richard Vandevord (Q400s, kindly provided by AirHistory.net)