For the record, I thought "Dashing Across Canada" would be the best title 😆.

Can we just appreciate Alex for sacrificing his budget and legs for sake of giving us high-quality aviation videos?

As a 6’3 Canadian man living in St. John’s with parents in Halifax, the dash 8 has become the bane of my existence.

UPDATE MARCH 14, 2024: I am genuinely surprised at the number of negative comments. This was Alex’s adventure; he shared it with us and took us along. Whether or not one sees it as “stupid” is subjective. I really feel that if you couldn’t say something nice perhaps you needn’t say anything at all. ORIGINAL COMMENT: The only thing that bothered me was how many times Alex described his trip as "stupid". It wasn't stupid; it was an adventure. An adventure only other avgeeks could truly understand. I have so much admiration and respect for Alex; he took the challenge and made it happen. Bravo, dude.

Flexing the fact you not only toured inside an Air Canada DC-9-30 before it was scrapped but also own an actual PIECE of it...what an absolute legend. Doing all this just for the entertainment of the aviation community is a small price to pay, for salvation. Well done, sir! The Saskatchewan Legislative Building is quite nice. The people who built it thought Saskatchewan would eventually be the most important and populated province, so they built a grand building to reflect their dream...it didn’t work out that way. The Saskatchewan Legislative Building was built between 1908 and 1912 in the Beaux Arts style to a design by Edward and William Sutherland Maxwell of Montreal. The Maxwells also supervised construction of the building by the Montreal company P. Lyall & Sons, who later built the Centre Block in Ottawa after the 1866 Parliament Building was destroyed by fire in 1916. Regina was previously called Wascana from a Cree word that means "Buffalo Bones" but was renamed to Regina or Latin for Queen in 1882 in honor of Queen Victoria. This decision was made by Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Louise, who was the wife of John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, the Governor General of Canada at the time. Saskatchewan became a province in 1905, the same year Alberta became a province, both carved out from the Northwest Territories. The Dash 8 really is a workhorse. It may not be the most comfortable plane, but they’re fun! So many lives have been affected by that plane in the best way possible, and for that you got to love it.

Definitely one of the coolest aviation vids ever, especially for a Canadian

Now this is how you do Canadian content. Travelling across the country onboard the most prominent workhouse aircraft and using the opportunity to make jokes about the places you visit. Narrowly avoiding death with those Canada geese and “things to do in Regina: leave” had me rolling. Great Vid Alex!

My father was the Lead Avionics Specialist who developed this aircraft at De Havilland amongst several other airplanes in his career. He was awarded a place in Canadian Aviation History at the Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

"The stupidest thing I've ever done." Thanks for suffering for our entertainment Alex!

This Really shows how Important the dash 8 is to Canadian aviation. Amazing video

As an aviation enthusiast I think it is really cool to fly across Canada on a Canadian designed and built aircraft! Well done!

That's crazy. I've done this too, across Canada only on Dash 8s, but a) not all in one go and b) I actually had to fly those Dash 8s at one point or another. :) The best part of being a Dash 8 pilot is that I got to see Canada from coast to coast... I'll forever cherish those moments, even though often, during my time doing that I was not happy to be on that plane. I wanted to fly a jet... Little did I know that the Dash 8 is an amazing airplane and I got to see some unique places: Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Kelowna, Castlegar, Kamploops, Cranbrook, Yellowknife, Calgary, Lethbridge, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sault St. Marie, Toronto, Windsor, Sarnia, Kingston, Ottawa, Mont Tremblant, Montreal, Quebec, Mont Joli, Bae Comeau, Gaspe Bay, Sept Ille, Wabush, Fredericton, St John, Charlottown, Halifax, Gander, Deer Lake, St. John's... and many more... Nice video Alex.

i really did make alex do this didn't i

“Plane spotting at Regina” huh I wonder how that would go… “Hey look! A dash-8!” “Hey look!!! A dash-8” “Lads you won’t believe this, there’s a dash-8”

As "technologically obsolete" these aircraft are, they are still a pleasure to fly on. To me, they take you back to a simpler, more raw era of aviation. The D8 is a little workhorse which many fail to appreciate. Thank you for carrying this task out and sharing all the small and big details through this amazing journey of yours. We have an amazing country and are blessed. You've gained a new subscriber. Keep up the fantastic work.

13:11 Ah yes, the infamous Northern Murder Chickens…. Love from your Southern Neighbor!

What a great Canadian aviation adventure. It was fun, and a privilege, to come along for the ride(s). I've lost count of the Dash 8 flights I've taken so far; to and from the 3 Canadian cities I've lived in Toronto, Halifax and now Kelowna. It's sounds trite to say the Dash 8 is iconic, but it's kind of hard to deny that it most definitely is. Great vid, Alex! Rgds from YLW.

I've been working on the Dash-8 Q400 as a flight attendant for over 2 years and believe me, I've heard so much trash talk about these aircrafts. Yes they arent the fanciest or biggest planes, but they serve a huge purpose and people dont realize that they would be stuck if these planes weren't around. People have a hard time understanding that there are different size planes and not every plane is a jet. Sometimes people just need to be thankful that they have options available to them. I personally enjoy working on the Q, its a very unique experience!!

The vibration on the YTZ-YHZ leg: vibration with propellers is always max when you are right in the plane of rotation of the props, and it looks like that's exactly where you were. Big # 1 reason why I always go as far back as possible in any prop flight. My fave was a Czech ATR-72 flight where you boarded through the rear door, and that's where the first class seats were -- and only 20% more $$$ than economy, I didn't need persuading!

Never been on a Dash 8. Now I want to…. continue that streak!

The audible 'oh' from a passenger due to the hard landing around 16:27 made me laugh so hard and replay.

The first row on WestJet is considered the emergency exit row. You used to be able to select that row at check-in for no additional fee.

As someone who is new to Canada and fond of aviation, this was an absolute treat to watch and the hunger to see the country keeps growing! Thank you for doing and making this!

20:22 I realized earlier you said that you wondered if anyone was reading those and if you’re wondering yes I did and “not a Cessna 172” is just perfect

Today I live in Victoria and travel to Vancouver at least once a month. I often end up opting for the ferry + bus combo which works surprisingly well, but prefer the flight overall, especially when I get that great low-altitude view of the gulf islands like you mentioned. I grew up flying around Atlantic Canada on Dash-8's. Fond memories of Quebec City to Labrador City on a Dash-8 as well. Great video Alex!

You should’ve flown back on Dash-8s stopping at airports like Saskatoon and Brandon that you couldn’t stop at on your eastbound flight 😂

The closest thing I've ever done to this was on an Air Canada DC-9-32 starting from Vancouver to Saskatoon, then onto Winnipeg, then Toronto, finally to Montréal all on the same aircraft on the same day in the late Seventies. The aircraft was adorned with the original delivery livery. Alex, you would've love it!

I loved every second of this video! As a Canadian, I say thank you!!! I also loled at "Pearson is, well... Pearson" 👏

As a Canadian aviation geek who’s survived countless hours on the old beauty that is the dash 8 this video is amazing, thanks for doing this for us!

Thank you so much for this amazing journey. I was hugely entertained and enjoyed your commentary. I'm looking forward to your next trip!

Insane, amazing video, really love this kind of projects. Congratulations!!!

Epic trip Alex. I’m just back from crossing Canada by train, Halifax to Vancouver, with the ferry (and my daughter’s car) to finish the trip off at Mile 0 in Victoria. It was a magnificent trip across a magnificent country but I now want to do it again in Dash 8s!

I wish I found this channel sooner OML. I'm a plane spotting enthusiast from Manitoba. It started after my first and only trip I've ever taken. I was 14, and I went with my grandma and cousin from Winnipeg to Victoria. Even though the entire time I was plagued by severe travel anxiety and likely a bit of altitude sickness, I'll never forget each leg of the trip. We left Winnipeg and flew to Edmonton on a WestJet 737. Getting to Edmonton, I never got to see the tower because this was August of 2017, and I think most of us remember how bad the smoke was on the prairies thanks to the wildfires in BC. Next we did Edmonton straight to Victoria on a dash 8, and I felt a lot better on that flight. Flying over the mountains was an experience I enjoyed deeply and I remember when the land gave way to the ocean as we approached the Island. It was magical to me, and still is. Coming home, we had a 20 minute flight via dash 8 from Victoria to Vancouver. Then we had a 2 hour layover and relaxed until our 737 took us straight back to Winnipeg. The first thing I did at the airport? I went to Tim's and got a farmers wrap. The first thing I'd eaten in 2 days. This was because my anxiety makes me feel nauseous, and I can't bring myself to eat. I barely ate anything the entire 9 days we were in Victoria, and can count the amount of meals I had on one hand. But even amongst these crappy feelings, I felt a sense e of wonder to the whole flight experience, even if I felt a bit gross in the air. Geez I rambled. The point of this whole comment is to say I'm glad I found someone making this sort of content. It lets me look onto a plane in a way where I won't end up in a panic attack. I have since wanted to travel a lot more, but lack of funds and anxiety isn't letting me. Hopefully, I'll eventually get to the point where I can do trips, especially since I've always wanted to see the east coast myself. But you've earned yourself a new subscriber for sure.

Having flown on turboprops from Iqaluit and Clyde River down south far more times than humans are meant to, I can appreciate what you've managed. Long flights on 'em is just awful, and I can't imagine that many Dashes in a row.

One of the best videos you’ve made yet. Thanks for your dedication to your viewers.

Oh wow you outdid yourself with this one… loved it! More like this please, maybe with Westjet next!

As someone who grew up in the rural NW of the US, the Dash 8 has a special place in my heart since that's the only plane our regional airlines used. Q400 til I die

That's cool you started in Victoria. My uncle lives on Vancouver Island. I always love the 15 minute Dash-8 flight between Vancouver and Comox when I go to visit him.

The comedic relief in here is my favorite part! Great job Alex!!! love it. One of my all time favorite videos!

Another awesome video Alex. Indeed YTZ-YHZ is long, but PD's former YOW-MLB was the world's longest Dash 8 flight at approx. 3 1/2 hours flying time. In a few weeks time you'll be about to do the Dash transcon without having to go through the "Centre of the Universe" as PD launch YQT-YOW twice daily in March.

WOW, this is so well done. The amount of planning, backtracking, and ticketing to fly an all dash-8 journey across the country on three different airlines must have been a very tough job, but I'm sure you found it very rewarding! This was super entertaining. Porter at YTZ is pretty much _always_ delayed, but I'm glad you were able to get another AC dash-8 that got you there! Love all the little details too; definitely did think one of those was a cessna :p

Possibly your best video and fantastic narration to boot! Keep it up, Alex!

Now you got to fly across the USA on all CRJ-200s!!!

I'm not an aviation nerd, but I can pretty confidently say that the best way to experience flying across Canada on only Dash 8s is a

Glad you got to see the DC-9. I live in Thunder Bay,and drive past the airport everyday. It's strange not seeing it.

Loved it, thanks for sharing your experience with us Alex 👍

3:33 BRO GOT ME THERE I ACTUALLY THOUGH THERE WERE GOING TO BE 10 PARTS LOL😂😂😂😂😂

Seriously Alex, This was extremely entertaining to watch! Really enjoyed it and I hope your knees are alright. Now try a CRJ200 across the US ;D

As a fan of your videos from the Uk, who has visited many parts of Canada including, Calgary, Banff, Montreal etc. thank you for making this epic video! Brightens up my Monday morning start before work! Love your different take on aviation, by far the best Canadian aviation vlogger. Keep up the great content!!🎉

As someone who has grown up on Vancouver Island, almost all of my travels have started with a Dash 8 flight to Vancouver. So cool to see you feature this aircraft as it, for me - and I'm sure many others, has been a prominent part of my Canadian aviation experience. Truly an amazing and very Canadian video!

What a wonderful adventure...I enjoyed every minute of this video...Thank you so very much!!!

Man, you're a sucker for punishment lol. That was quite the brazen adventure though and kudos to you for undertaking such a challenge. Only one missed connection during the entire adventure, considering the state of our airlines last summer, was nothing short of a miracle. I know there was careful planning on your part but the best laid plans of mice and men as they say. Thanks for taking us along with you, it sure was fun to see all those airport terminals. Well done!

Awesome video Alex. Love the Dash-8. Would love to do this here in the U.S. Sadly the Dash-8 is going away. Love Canada!!!

World’s first and only person to be excited about going to Atlantic Canada

The "what to do in Regina" clip made this Saskatchewanian proud, nothing sums up this place more than that

It is not the stupidest thing you ever did. It is the MOST AMAZING thing you ever did. This is by far the best video you ever did my friend. A true piece of art. I would love to have this kind of adventure.

This was my favourite video from all of the ones you have done, thank you for sharing your adventures, stupid or not lol 🤘🇨🇦😊

Thanks for doing this Alex and bearing with the legroom! The views are amazing!

One of the most unique videos I've watched. Thanks for sharing your experience

As an alumni of confederation college aviation program, it is sad to see dc9 getting demolished. I remember walking in when all instruments were still attached. Thanks for the video and hope you can try CRJ cross country next?

Love it Alex! Thank you for sharing. Inspiring me to take a similar trip in my PA28-140 Cherokee.

What an excellent video Alex. I got a little emotional at the end. Dash 8's are one of my favourite planes I've flown on so far. I've never been west of Ontario, so this was so cool to see you fy on these planes from one end of the country to the other.

Here’s a game: one point for every city you’ve been in on Alex’s trip. One point for each leg you,ve flown on Alex’s trip. One extra point if you flew that leg on the dash. No points for yyz. You need to have to have flown the leg into BB. No point for doing any leg in reverse. I scored 14.

the fact he is over 6'8 is crazy

As someone who just drove from Kelowna to Hamilton, Canada is one big cookie. You are very brave for attempting this

You are a true life hero. Dash-8 is punishingly LOUD as well as slow. oh my gawd.

I love this new content for your channel. Not that your other stuff isn't great, because it is. This was a lot of fun. Cheers

I usually don’t comment on videos but on this particular one I just had to. Thank you so much! I genuinely had to smile for the entire video. The reason for that is that I’m a huge fan of the Dash8 and even more of the Q400. This is the plane which brought me to aviation back in 2010 when I was flying from Berlin-Tegel to Gdansk with airberlin. At the time I was 11 years old. At first I wasn’t impressed at all, even the opposite. I was afraid and cried until we reached cruising level and after the flight I was infected with the aviation virus and even more - With the Q400. I couldn’t explain it. What followed were endless days of spotting in Tegel and pure joy, because in the years between 2014 and 2017 airberlin doubled their Q400 fleet from 10 to 20 aircraft. I remember it like it was yesterday - end of 2015 or beginning of 2016: Airberlin announced that they will lease three brandnew Q400NextGens. D-ABQR D-ABQS D-ABQT. Damn I was so happy! When they arrived I took pictures of them in Tegel - Never seen so fresh and shiny Dash8’s before. I also was super lucky when I took a trip to Warsaw in January 2017. My aircraft for the flight was D-ABQT and it was only a week old. Encountering my favourite aircraft just a week after entering service was an hounor and possibly one of my best experiences on board a Q400. However - This „personal paradise of mine“ shouldn’t last for very long. In 2017 airberlin went bankrupt, Eurowings/German Airways took over the Q400 fleet while already stating that they will replace it with E190’s in the future. It was a sad situation cause they moved them out of Berlin and subsequently reduced the number of Q400s in their fleet. In addition to that there were no routes to poland to visit my family. And then covid began to change the aviation world. The Q400s were operated by Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter and their contract with Eurowings was cancelled due to covid which meant that the operator went bankrupt and all of the Q400s were grounded. This may sound a bit cheesy but after growing up with them and having flown a lot with them I already was recognized by the crews and it felt like family somehow. Seeing this coming to an end was a pretty sad time in my life. However I couldn’t just sit there and be upset. I knew that there was LOT Polish Airlines with the Q400 left in „my area“. Even flying in Poland, which was perfect to visit my family in Gdansk. I took some trips with them in the past but as I’m not living in Poland you kind of forget about them. So I turned my focus to LOT and by the time I was enjoying „my new area of Q400s“, after 3 weeks „in my new world“, they announced that they will retire them in the end of 2022. It felt like a joke - But I said to myself that I will enjoy the time with them as long as they’re flying in poland and book as many flights as possible. 2021 left me with 33 Q400 flights and 2022 with already 67 Q400 flights and a few more to come but the end is near- Yeah it‘s crazy but I absolutely love this machine! I often ask myself how anyone can hate this bird and there are a lot of people hating the Dash8 - or especially the Q400. It has its flaws and it certainly had not the best start, but it is a beast! The performance is breathtaking and the machine is just full of „character“. Hard to describe what I mean but you will miss so much when boarding a „Next Generation Jet“ after a Q400 flight. The rawness, the pure sounds, the high taxi speed, the RPM changes, the shaking cabin at the ground while listening to the props growl at you or simpy the push into your seat after take off power gets set while you’re airborne in well under 20 seconds. It has so many facettes - It can be smooth and soothing while landing at 850RPM or aggressively approaching the runway with its distinctive sound at 1020RPM. You got it all - Icing Speeds, Non Icing Speeds, Flap 15 or Flap 35 approach. Feels like a whole new aircraft in every different condition and that is what I miss in other aircraft. They simply lack the excitement of the Dash8. Obviously they serve other purpose but a a fan I’m just pointing out what’s so special to me. Why do I write all this down? It was more or less common to travel with the Q400 through europe in the past. However in the last year they were getting retired at many european airlines. AirBaltic, Olympic, LOT, airberlin/eurowings, austrian and horizon in the united states. It drives me crazy cause they’re not old aircraft, they’re fast and they still burn less fuel than any jet but it’s the unfortunate future here. It was amazing to watch this as you can travel through canada on those magnificent birds with a lot of airlines and a trip like that would have been the perfect adventure for me. Thank you for letting us see through your camera! It was a pleasure :) (I know, technically it’s not a Q400 anymore however I’m used to say that all the time. It is hard to let go)

EPIC! A virtual standing ovation from all your fans, Alex.

Everyone thinks I’m crazy for wanting to ride the train across Canada. Now I’ll just show them this video! Flew a Dash up to Smithers, BC a couple times, and an hour in that seat was plenty for me.

I like how medicine hat just gets skipped lol

This is oddly very enjoyable -- Love your vids Alex!

Alex, great video! If you’re up for it, maybe you could fly from the Canadian arctic (maybe Resolute Bay or some other small town up there) to the southern tip of South America (Puerto Williams, Chile or Ushuaia, Argentina). Anyway, just an idea. Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to see more awesome trip reports soon!

Hello Alex, I would like to say a few words. First and foremost. This was the most amazing of "stupid" things I have seen you do on youtube and quiet definitely my favourite video of yours that I have seen! I love the idea of traveling west to east trough all of Canada with only Q400's! Also, I do apologize for the weak performance of Porter. I work the ramp for Porter and back in July we were EXTREMELY understaffed. We (the company) had just started to hire more people like crazy and we all struggled to keep up. We did manage to bring our on time performance up a lot since. Staffing is also no longer as much of an issue as early summer. Lastly, it is too bad Porter no longer flies to Melbourne, FL as that would also be a great video to see! I would also love to make that flight with Porter if they still flew that rout. Anyways, if you do end up reading my comment, thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I hope you have a pleasant day and happy flying!

That was awesome. This is a very interesting aviation channel. Keep up the great work!

"the dash 8 is the back bone of Canada's aviation" AMEN

Huge respect for the dude actually getting onto a plane and actually doing it instead of doing it in mircrosoft flight sim

I know it was a pain, but this was quite a journey. I am originally from YYT and have been to every airport on this journey, except Thunder Bay. I have flown on Dash-8's to all these airports - just not in 5 days straight. Thanks for sharing.

This is awesome i hope it paid off for you in the end!

As someone who’s only flown the Dash 8 from Windsor-Toronto I applaud your sacrifice to comfort.

I can't believe I just watched a 30 minute video of Alex flying across Canada...

Awesome trip report. Porter has flown test flights between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, but so far no plans to open another Dash 8 service between the two cities besides Encore.

Great video and congratulations on the "grueling" trip!!

I enjoyed this video very much... Well done!!!

“Inevitable that i’d be forced to stop in the centre of the universe” hahaha What an awesome video! I have a new appreciation for Dash 8s

"Narrowly avoided death" as you show the great Canadian attack geese. I lost it laughing hahaha. Still watching, just had to pause and comment on that. Great video so far, I would love to do such an adventure.

Im from Sault Ste. Marie. Our airport only gets puddle jumpers, Awesome job with the documenting of your trip!!

Thank you for sacrificing your legs, and cash, to make this video for us, by far, you are the best Canadian aviation channel, and we are all so grateful to always see legendary content made by a one-of-a-kind KZfaqr!! Keep up the awesome work!! We love you!!

Holy sh.. I think you just redefined what it means to be a true aviation enthusiast. Hope you had a comfier ride back to YYC 😂

Thought this was a flight sim video but was pleasantly surprised. Great video dude, hope you had fun in Newfoundland!

GREAT video! Thank you for sharing your adventure. And IMHO, both WestJet and Porter are *excellent* companies! Best wishes and stay well!

The dash 8 really is a workhorse. It may not be the most comfortable plane, but they’re fun! So many lives have been affected by that plane in the best way possible, and for that you got to love it. Also it was pretty cool to see my home airport on this channel, even if it was only for a bit. With crappy weather. And lots of stress trying to find another flight. Trust me, Halifax does have nice days in the summer, you just got one of the many bad ones 😂.

My first flight in a Dash 8 was a 100 Toronto to Halifax and return. I did that all in one night, a test flight. It was interesting to say the least but certainly not a stupid move. Nevertheless the Dash 8 400 is significantly faster aircraft than the old 100. My personal favorite is the 300

Having a piece of a DC-9 sounds cool as hell

What a cool Adventure. I have been to all these airports (except St John's) but not in a cross Canada trip. I'm so glad I watched this.

Who else lives in Canada and waited for him to land in your province

Thank your for sacrificing you legs and back for this fabulous journey. I think this was one of the most entertaining flight videos I have seen.too bad about the connection from Halifax to St. Johns. Again, thank you for sharing this incredible journey.

Excellent video….I enjoyed every minute especially made me proud to see Canada from that altitude. 10/10

Hello from Kamloops! Glad you didn't mind our tiny "airport", and great video as usual!

Very adventurous and fun journey.. well done and keep it up!