Dornier 328 328-110

When the performance of the Dornier 328 is quoted, it is almost always the 328-110 being quoted: the production version, the one with the higher weights and greater range, and the one reference works take as the definition of the type. At a maximum take-off weight of 13,990 kg it carries thirty-three passengers at a cruise of 620 km/h — a figure that in 1993 placed it closer to regional jets than to its propeller-driven rivals — over a range of up to 1,852 km with reserves.

The combination followed a very deliberate logic. The fuselage had been optimised for high cruise speeds and the supercritical wing came from the Dornier 228, so the aircraft could fly fast approaches and slot into the landing sequence at jet-dominated airports without holding up traffic. Its 9,492 m ceiling also let it fly above much of the weather that punishes regional aircraft.

The 328-110 arrived late for its own opportunity. By the mid-1990s the regional market was shifting towards jets, and the argument for a quiet, fast turboprop counted for less than passenger perception. A recession chilled orders, and the parent company, Deutsche Aerospace, wavered between investing further in the regional sector and withdrawing from it; the 48-seat stretch unveiled in 1991 was never given the go-ahead.

The result is an aircraft with a better technical than commercial reputation. Operators valued its wide cabin, low internal noise and its ability to work from semi-prepared strips thanks to low-pressure tyres and a gravel guard; the accounts never balanced. By the time production stopped, the 328-110 airframe had already proved robust enough to accept a conversion to jet power without a structural redesign.