Any PSA (JS) Guys Here?

[SegmentKing]

Been working on a project and talking with a few leasing companies. Been offered a good deal on the Dornier 328s. Just wanted some feedback from any PSA pilots, mechanics, or even corporate types here. There are about 49 airplanes parked right now and they're despirate to get some money for them.

Our business plan calls for a 30 seat prop and for some reason I love the Brasilia, but the D38 may be a bit better for some of the markets we're looking at.

Thanks!

 

[robbedagain]

I'm not a pilot but did work the D-328 for a bit as a ramp/ops agent.
the plane wasnt too bad to load. I think it held 32 or a bit more people. I had been told in the past that the DO-328 was a nice plane to fly and very quiet for pax wise

 

[Swaayze]

I'm not a pilot but did work the D-328 for a bit as a ramp/ops agent.
the plane wasnt too bad to load. I think it held 32 or a bit more people. I had been told in the past that the DO-328 was a nice plane to fly and very quiet for pax wise

Flew the 328Jet, awesome airplane. The props are not much slower and I don't think you'd go wrong with them (mx and support issues unknown and notwithstanding).

 

[luvn737s]

If you're going to adopt Little Orphan Airplane you better be Daddy BigBucks! Seriously, if you have even anywhere close to the sufficient financial backing you'll need to get this started, your backers shouldn't blink an eye towards the purchase of brand new ATR's or Dash 8's. The days of cranking up an airline on a shoestring are long gone.

 

[furloughednow psa]

If you're going to adopt Little Orphan Airplane you better be Daddy BigBucks! Seriously, if you have even anywhere close to the sufficient financial backing you'll need to get this started, your backers shouldn't blink an eye towards the purchase of brand new ATR's or Dash 8's. The days of cranking up an airline on a shoestring are long gone.

Flew the Do328 for over 2 years. It's fast, it's Honeywell Primus 2000 Glass, it will leave a Dash8 for dead and it's quiet too. Pax love it but keep it out of the cold as the avionics suffer. Needs to be maintained and now that Fairchild is out of Bankruptcy it would be a great aircraft to fly. Good luck to you. Need a Do328 Captain... let me know!

 

[N628AU]

Worked these from a ground ops standpoint and also flying them as passenger they were great. They flew rather long legs for a commuter (CLT-CAK and DAY), and rarely had weight restrictions (not sure where it would fit with the increased pax weights today). As a passenger from CLT-DAY, was a great ride.

I have a friend who works for Ganassi Racing and they use it to fly the teams to race events, even cross country (albeit with fuel stops).

If you can get some assurance on the parts end, they'd be a great pickup.

 

[SegmentKing]

Most of the segments on the D38s will be 1 hour with a handful of 2 hour legs, and in the southern region of the USA.

Financial backing is there --- certificate is in good shape, just needs to be upgraded to 121 and the FSDO that will be assigned to it doesn't have any scheduled airlines, so that office will do what they can to get it certified (the FAA guys will get a raise because of the Part 121 Sched operation).

We've also got a great deal of talent working with us, including some former *good* mid level folks from CCY. *koff* *koff*

 

[mbc]

Flew the prop for 2 years at PSA. Great airplane from a pilot's and passenger's perspective. Very fast (310 TAS) and quiet. I can't remember what the fuel burn was, but it was fairly efficient. The only concern might be maintenance.

 

[PBRmeASAP]

Most of the segments on the D38s will be 1 hour with a handful of 2 hour legs, and in the southern region of the USA.

Financial backing is there --- certificate is in good shape, just needs to be upgraded to 121 and the FSDO that will be assigned to it doesn't have any scheduled airlines, so that office will do what they can to get it certified (the FAA guys will get a raise because of the Part 121 Sched operation).

We've also got a great deal of talent working with us, including some former *good* mid level folks from CCY. *koff* *koff*

Fortunately Dreams are Free!!!

 

[SegmentKing]

Fortunately Dreams are Free!!!

what does this have to do with the thread? I thought I was fairly honest in my question. I just felt this board would be the MOST knowledgeable about this aircraft than what the lessors will tell us (they want them moved, like they'll say the BAD stuff).

I can't discuss where we stand or where we're going with the operation, but you are welcome to formulate your opinion, just wish it wasn't on THIS thread.

And you are right, most airlines today have a great chance of failure, which is why we're going over everything carefully instead of jumping on an idea that someone says is good.. if that were the case we'd be dead in the water right now... but there are markets that present themselves as profitable if the #s hold true today what they used to perform in the past.

 

[robbedagain]

I do agree that the DO-328 prop is a good plane! I dont believe it had weight restrictions. what is the name of your airline if it is ok to ask?

 

[SegmentKing]

I do agree that the DO-328 prop is a good plane! I dont believe it had weight restrictions. what is the name of your airline if it is ok to ask?

Still in the works as we'll have to operate it as a D/B/A... the certificate we're buying is from an FBO w/ 2 of them, so I doubt a name like "Jones Flying Service" or similar would be a good name!

 

[Kev3188]

I also worked them (on the ground) many years ago while working for QX.

The only negative I ever heard was that they don't do to well "driving" (taxiing, taking off, landing) when there's snow or slush on the ground due to the landing gear configuration. Since you'll be in the south, that shouldn't be too big of a concern.

 

[Bluestreak]

I flew Dorniers at PSA for Four years. From a pilot's perspective it's a great airplane -- fast, easy, quiet, great avionics, and fun to fly.

From a MX standpoint to Dornier might not be so great. For the last two years we operated them at PSA the dorniers were plagued with minor, but delay causing MX. The packs were a constant problem. Also the APUs seemed to be MEL'd a lot. The nose wheel steering acted up often, and there were a lot of PROXI MAINT CAS messeges. PROXI MAINT meant a three hour delay while the mechs figured out which sensor was bad.

I think PSA's strategy was to fly the DO-328 on the longest segments possible. The airplane's operating costs were rumored to be as low as a Beech 1900's if the segment times were over 1:15. the rumor went on that Horizon couldn't run the 328s profitably because they ran them on short segments. PSA solved that problem by doing a lot of PIT-CHS or PHL-GSP type legs. I am not sure if there is any truth to this, just rumors from the line.

Hope that helps.

Better jump on those Dorniers quickly. The Australian Coast Guard just bought a bunch of them.

Good Luck.

 

[dragonbravo]

I never noticed any problems with the gear configuration. Heck, in training we watched video of Dornier doing takeoffs and landings from grass. I've heard a lot of complaints about landing in crosswinds but, again, I thought it did great in a crosswind. It is fickle on the maintainance. As for the APU's being MEL'd, the APU and engines share the same type starter/gen. So if MX needed a start/gen and didn't have one on the shelf, they would canibalize one off the APU. Quiet, fast (320ish TAS), economical (around 600pph a side at cruise), will handle a lot of ice, sexy, and a very ergonomic cockpit.

The new FAA pax weights did put a hurt on us, but they never striped the airplanes when they changed from the white to the blue. So stripping the aircraft will save you several hundred pounds. Honeywell is vastly better than Collins. I'm with furlowednow psa, if you need any captains, let me know!