I Flew Across Canada On ONLY Dash 8s

I

flew

across Canada alone with Dash 8! It took 10 flights over the course of 5 days and some... slight inconvenience, traveling from Victoria, British Columbia to St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Now, if for some reason you clicked on this video and you are NOT an aviation enthusiast, let's just say that the Dash 8 is basically the backbone of Canadian regional aviation. If you've ever taken a short connecting flight within Canada, you've probably flown on a Dash 8. That said, it's very much a regional airliner and not the most ideal plane for flights longer than an hour or two. In another video I posted in January, I mentioned that, in theory, it would be possible to fly across the country

only

on turboprop planes, and... ...you can imagine what happened next.

So, as it is done, I added the extra challenge of finding a route that would take me across the country exclusively on the Dash 8-400, and that's what you're about to see! This is, without a doubt, the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life, so enjoy! As we begin this “adventure” on the west coast of Victoria, there is one stop I wanted to make before the first flight. This unassuming residential street actually marks "Mile Zero" of the Trans-Canada Highway, which stretches across the country for 7,821 kilometers and ends in St. John's. So it seemed appropriate to come here, walk to the water, and reflect on this wonderfully stupid and irreverent journey I was about to embark on. …This is how I die, right?

After spending a day at Victoria Airport with my good friend Brandon, who came up with that route in the first place, and is largely to blame for what happened next, it was time for the first flight. The first three legs of this trip will be on Air Canada Express, so I made sure to get some of the good quality boarding passes as a souvenir for later. As the capital of B.C., Victoria has a decent amount of passenger traffic through a very nice terminal building. However, most of their flights are short-haul to Vancouver, the largest city in the province, and as you may have guessed, that's where I'm heading first.

At least it would be after a 1 hour and 15 minute delay due to a “technical problem.” Walking across the ramp onto this trusty Dash 8-400 operated by Jazz Aviation, the reality of what I would be doing for the next few days really began to set in. I settled in the back of the plane in seat 20F and we said goodbye to Victoria! Now, Victoria to Vancouver is, ironically, one of the shortest Dash 8 routes in the entire country: a 63-kilometer hop across the Strait of Georgia. Many times you are in the air for just 10 or 15 minutes! It's one of those routes that serves more to connect travelers than to get from one place to another, since you can take a ferry for much, much less.

Still, it's honestly one of my favorite routes to fly solo through the Gulf Islands landscape, and on a clear day like today, they fly at just 3,000 feet. And with that, flight number 1 of 10 was in the books, so thank you everyone for watching and stay tuned for the next 9 parts! *end song* No, can you imagine? This is the

only

flight today and tomorrow I will explain why. The second day took me back to Canada's second busiest airport bright and early for a couple of hours flight through the mountains. It was also the first time I

flew

out of these ground cargo gates at YVR, which are pretty much exclusively Dash 8 flights.

Interestingly, it's also home to the only Tim Hortons in the domestic terminal, which unsurprisingly has a consistent schedule . The first of two flights today would take me from Vancouver to Kamloops on this new Dash. For this one, I took a seat further forward in 5A and was very lucky with an open seat next to me. Oh, and just to make this trip even more fun, I have longer legs than the average Dash 8 passenger. We taxied to Runway 26L and said goodbye to the West Coast! As we turned east over the Strait of Georgia, I knew I wouldn't see much water over the next few days over the Prairies!

From Vancouver to Kamloops it is only a half-hour flight, but it is undoubtedly one of the most scenic of this entire trip. Over the mountains, we were cruising at just 23,000 feet, and the views from below just refused to go away! This flight was also long enough for the first of… many snack services Dash 8 and AC usually offers complimentary drinks and these Biscoffs on morning flights. AC's Dash 8-400s are generally pretty basic, but one useful thing they all have are these coat racks. And as you'll soon see, they also have much more padded seats than other carriers!

That's not a big deal on a shorter flight like this, but for something like Calgary to Yellowknife, it definitely makes a difference! We quickly began our descent and flight number 2 came to an end with some beautiful views on approach. The Kamloops airport is pretty modest and they obviously don't have a process for connections, so I had to go out and go through security again. At the very least, it gave me a chance to take a look at a surprisingly treeless part of British Columbia. Back inside the security area, Kamloops Airport is clearly the size of a Dash 8, as are many airports across the country.

The third flight would be aboard another former Dash bound for Calgary, a natural next stop for me considering it's my home and also a great hub for more Dash 8 flights east. There are a couple of these airports in the mountains that only have flights to Vancouver or Calgary as they are both major hubs. To keep things simple, I stuck with AC again for the third match. “Flight number 3!” I took seat 1A in the front, probably my favorite on the Dash 8-400, lucked out again with the empty aisle seat, and said goodbye to Kamloops. The next flight to Calgary took just under an hour and passed over many of British Columbia's inland lakes before crossing the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

The first row of these planes usually have trays on the armrests, and we have another snack service, but this time with pretzels. Sitting in the front also gives you easy access to the Dash 8-400's single bathroom, which is...well, pretty comical for anyone taller than 5 feet. Another thing is that most of the Dash 8-400s here don't actually have a sink. From my understanding, water lines freeze easily in winter, so most Dash 8s simply don't have running water. Now, booking 10 flights across the country is one thing... a pretty expensive thing, but there's also a lot of planning behind it.

The reason I only do a few legs a day is because I had to be very conservative when planning. In theory, you could get from Victoria to Saskatchewan or Manitoba in a single day, but it would only take missing one connection to ruin the rest of your flights. Even though I did this in July, there was a good chance of a delay or outright cancellation due to a thunderstorm, smoke, or some other type of weather. There is another element too, and that is that the summer of 2022 was a bit... chaotic for the airlines, so a cancellation for crew or maintenance reasons was also a clear possibility.

That's why I gave myself a lot of room for things to go wrong and, for the most part, booked flights in the morning as they tend to be the most on-time. I also planned my overnight stays accordingly and made sure to spend the night here at home. Under normal circumstances, this would... probably be the end of a journey for me, but oh no... It's only just begun. Fortunately, tonight's stay gave me some time to throw away some images, do laundry, and get a good night's sleep in my own bed. Naturally, the next stop on a cross-country trip like this is Saskatchewan, but as far as I know, most Air Canada flights from Alberta were on CRJ.

So, it's time to switch to WestJet for the next few flights, operated by WestJet Encore, and the first of them will be early in the morning bound for Edmonton! And yes, I realize I'm not making any eastward progress with this, but I did have a connection there that I'll talk about shortly. You'll depart from one of Calgary's few boarding ramps, in a part of Concourse A that looks a lot like a Costco. The last time I flew from here was in 2019 on a WestJet Link Saab, and I clearly forgot how to… let's say, the lowest budget possible!

As you board the first of several Encore flights to come, you can already tell that the cabins look much more modern! That comes at the expense of... well, general comfort, as you can see. I got into seat 6A and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they ended up closing the doors with only 11 passengers! I say "unsurprisingly" because I doubt many people have the need to go to Edmonton at 7 in the morning, unless you're making a stupid connection there like me. I said goodbye to home for a couple more days and we headed to the capital of Alberta. Calgary to Edmonton is a fairly short flight connecting Alberta's two largest cities and covering a distance of just 244 kilometres.

This flight, like this entire video, is a bit unnecessary since Encore flies Dash 8 from Calgary to Saskatchewan anyway. However, for some reason, this was cheaper than the non-stop flight, and inadvertently makes this whole cross-country thing even 10 flights. They gave us glasses of water, I enjoyed the extra space and in no time we were descending. We ended up parking next to the US gates thanks to the platform being repaved. However, my next flight was parked at the gates near the tower, so it was a fun walk through most of the terminal! Flight number 5 is another Encore to Regina, Saskatchewan, boarding through my favorite gates in Edmonton for these tower views!

Now Encore's Dash 8-400s seat 78 passengers like every other airline, but they are the only ones that have some sort of two-class configuration. I say "sort of" because ultimately they are exactly the same seats, just these ten in the front. And, to sit in the exit row and get extra space, you have to pay a “Premium” fare, which is usually double the price. However, they do have upgrades available at check-in for a much more reasonable amount and I took seat 2D. These small bottles of water were delivered to Premium and we were soon on our way across the Prairies.

Service started very quickly after takeoff and I bought a drink, plus this whole box of snacks! Apparently that's something Premium now includes in Encore, which was very surprising! Normally you would get the same cookies or pretzels as everyone else, but inside this were… real treats! That really impressed me and the rest of the flight passed in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, the next eastbound leg is not a daily flight, so despite arriving here in the morning, the lack of eastbound Dash 8 flights today means another night. That meant I had to figure out, “what do you do with 24 hours in Regina?” *typing* Oh, okay.

Joking aside, I obviously went plane watching for a couple of hours, got a ride into town and had a nice walk around the Saskatchewan Legislative Building. It is located right on the edge of Wascana Lake in downtown Regina and is very pretty. I walked around for a bit, narrowly avoided death a couple of times, and after that early morning start, headed to a hotel to get some sleep. After yesterday's time at Encore, it's time for a couple more Encore flights, an Encore Encore, if you will. The first flight of the day is this one to Winnipeg, as seen through these windows, for which Regina Airport certainly gets a D rating.

Convinced of my surprisingly decent experience at Encore Premium, they tricked me into giving them more money. Turns out I would be amazed by the cabin again, as this is one of two Dash 8s that Encore purchased from the now bankrupt Hawaiian airline Island Air in 2018. I settled very comfortably in seat 3A (again with a clear aisle!) I got another bottle of water and we went to Manitoba. This flight to Winnipeg covers another 533 km and is practically a straight drive east over the last part of the Prairies. These Island Air seats are, as you would expect, much more comfortable than the regular Encore and have plenty of storage space.

Another beverage and snack service quickly passed, and another of these snack boxes was delivered to Premium. The contents of this snack box, which was currently trying to make the tray table vibrate, were exactly the same as yesterday, only with almonds. Plus, another unexpected bonus of Encore Premium is that the items in these new menus are actually free. The crew also asked me if I wanted anything from the menu on yesterday's flight, but it wasn't until today that I realized everything was free for Premium. It's safe to say that Encore has definitely upped its game, but how long that will last is anyone's guess.

With that, flight number 6 was finished, and now I can finally say we are at the geographic halfway point! Now the next flight wasimportant because of the nature of this trip exclusively with Dash 8, since, as far as I know, it is the only one that connects western and eastern Canada. Of course, there are other direct flights in between, but as far as the Dash 8 specifics go, it was the most obvious choice. This is actually a milk tour and starts in Edmonton, goes to Regina, Winnipeg and finally Thunder Bay. That meant we got back on the same plane, I confirmed that the legroom in economy still isn't great, and less than an hour after landing here, we were off to Ontario.

Winnipeg to Thunder Bay crosses into the Canadian Shield, leaving the Prairies behind as we head toward the western shore of Lake Superior. On board they gave us the usual complimentary drink and these cookies too. Since this flight was with the same plane, WestJet said the “connection time” between flights was only 31 minutes, which seemed ambitious. We ended up leaving a little over half an hour late, and even though I'm staying in Thunder Bay tonight, I had a very important stop to make before the sun set. Too late. After landing in Thunder Bay, I quickly exited the terminal and hopped into a taxi for a very specific reason: that Air Canada DC-9 that was on the other side of the airport.

This 1968-built DC-9-30 was donated to Confederation College in 2003 for educational purposes. Some people had told me it was going to be scrapped relatively soon, so once I realized Thunder Bay was going to be a stop, I had to go check it out. And I'm very happy I did, because just a few months later, at the end of September, he was gone. So, a big thank you to the people at the university for allowing me to take some time at the end of their day. It may have been about 30 minutes digging into this relatively obscure part of aviation history, but it's not something I'll soon forget.

Plus, I have a part now, so... it's a little difficult! With that, day number 4 came to an end and it was time for bed, because ironically, I would be traveling more of all of this on the last day. With a trip like this, it was inevitable that I would be forced to stop at the Center of the Universe at some point. Either there or in Montreal. Air Canada Express and WestJet Encore fly from Thunder Bay to Toronto-Pearson, but A) I think I've had enough of Jazz and Encore Dashes at this point, and B), Pearson is... well, Pearson.

So the other option, and arguably one of the best in the country, is Porter, a Dash 8-400 airline based at Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto. I flew them for the first time in February and they were very impressive, so for this last day of flying I planned to stay with them for the last three flights. Before that, though, I was able to take a look at Porter's hangar here in Thunder Bay, and I even got to walk by the plane that would take me on flight number 8! Porter is a bit like a Canadian JetBlue, so to speak, with more “refined” inflight service, so you can imagine I was looking forward to these next two flights.

And… having done this. I headed to seat 5D and just as the sun came up, I left for Toronto. The first flight of the three today is quite long, crossing Lakes Superior and Huron and adding another 900 kilometers to the total. I fell asleep right after takeoff, and after about an hour in the air, the crew started refreshment service. I went for a cup of coffee and Porter's classic shortbread cookie, which was delicious! However, their service offers something more, as they even have glasses for drinks, which I will try on the next flight. Porter is also one of the few airlines I've seen bring magazines on board.

I'm looking forward to seeing you get your new E2s. Meanwhile, it was a pleasure to take in the scenery over the Great Lakes on such a beautiful, clear morning. Plus, we even made it to Runway 26 at Billy Bishop Airport, which... well, you'll see. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is by far one of the most interesting airports in Canada. Not only does it have a super short runway, but the downtown location is not something you'll find anywhere else in the country. So, 4 days later, I finally found myself here in Canada's largest city and so far, everything was going pretty well.

A little too gently. Flight number 9 would take me to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I would connect with St John's for the tenth and final Dash flight. However, our boarding time came and went without a single word from anyone at Porter. Another half hour passed without any explanation before we climbed aboard. I settled into seat 8A and…well, we weren't going anywhere fast. “...we have to get all the suitcases off the plane, they were just a little delayed, I sincerely apologize for the longer delay here, but I hope they have them boarded up in the next few minutes and then we will have them on board. your way." “It's certainly taking longer than any of us expected or expected, so bear with us for a few minutes until everything is ready, and then we'll close." Finally we left the door with more than one hour delay, which jeopardized my connection in Halifax.

Still, takeoffs from the city of Toronto are always fun. Toronto to Halifax is by far the longest flight of this trip, at over 1,200 kilometers and 2 hours straight of flying. And yet, it's still not the longest Dash 8 flight Porter has ever taken. In previous years, they flew to Melbourne, Florida with their Dash 8s, lasting 3 hours in the air! Finally we got full Porter service on board which included complimentary snacks and finally a drink in a Porter glass. It's such a cool touch that really sets Porter apart from the others. Now flying 9 Dash 8's in a row was just starting to take its toll or it was just this particular seat, but this flight felt like two hours in a massage chair that you can't turn off.

I think I chose the least ideal seat for the longest flight of all. Still, I had never been to Atlantic Canada before, which was also part of the reason I was convinced to do this, so I was really looking forward to spending a couple of days here. In the meantime, I was pretty nervous about that connection, and the next few minutes could decide whether or not there would be a day 6 of this. Unfortunately, as I suspected, the next flight to St. John's left just as we were filming. That meant a bit of a wait to figure things out, as there were at least 7 other people making the same connection.

To Porter's credit, they were very helpful in providing us with information about the trip interruption, as well as this $15 meal voucher. They also rebooked me on the next Porter flight at no additional charge. The only problem is that the next flight from Porter to St. John's didn't leave for almost 6 hours and would take me there around midnight. Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't spend 5 days straight on Dash 8 just to end it by going straight to a hotel. Plus, I had one more stop I wanted to make once I got there, and daylight was important for that too.

So, with many thanks to a friend at Air Canada and my apologies to Porter, I ended up grabbing a last-minute seat that would take me to St. John's around 7 p.m. With that being said, here is the last Dash 8 from this trip through Canada. I headed to the back of seat 16A and, in typical Atlantic Canadian weather, finally headed to Newfoundland. The final flight was mainly over water, culminating this journey of more than 5,000 kilometers with another 883 journeys. Interestingly, the island of Newfoundland and a part of Labrador have their own time zone separate from the rest of Canada, with a difference of half an hour from Atlantic time.

That means I've crossed 4 time zones since leaving British Columbia, with a difference of 4.5 hours from Victoria. My reward for doing so? One last helping of Jazz pretzels and a drink. Fortunately, the weather improved as we approached St. John's, with some beautiful views below... and finally, the end was in sight. 5 days, 10 flights and over 5000 kilometers later, I successfully flew across Canada alone with Dash 8. It may have been... unconventional, but it was actually a very good way to see this amazing country of ours, did you? and honestly? It makes me appreciate the Dash 8 even more. No matter where you go in Canada, at one time or another, there will be a Canadian life touched by the Dash 8, the best-selling turboprop airliner ever made in this country.

The next day, I passed by the “other” Mile Zero monument outside St. John's City Hall and had a moment of reflection. In addition to the 10 flights, 11 cities and their respective airports were also part of this tour. Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Halifax and now St. John's. Something about seeing the entire trip visualized like this made me feel... accomplished and strangely, almost a little sad that it was all over. However, as I said before, I had one more layover after the last flight. This is Cape Spear, the easternmost point of Canada. From here, there is nothing but the vast expanse of the North Atlantic Ocean in one direction and the rest of the country in the other.

To put it into perspective, I'm closer to Europe right now than I am to Victoria or even Calgary. It's a poignant reminder of how important aviation is to this huge country of ours, and I can't think of a better place to conclude this... *deep breath* yeah, I can't put a positive spin on it yet, but you know what? It was fun. That being said, I have one thing to show. I mentioned from the beginning that I made sure I got good quality boarding passes and I continued to do so at each new departure point. I now have 10 boarding passes, one for each of these Dash 8 flights that took me from Victoria to St John's, and the easternmost point of Canada.

It's been quite a journey and I hope you enjoyed this coast-to-coast aviation adventure. Honestly, thank you very much for watching and we'll see you around.