THERE WAS only one entirely new commercial airliner from the Western World on display at the Paris Air Show this year, de Havilland Canada’s Dash 7 C-GNBX, the original production prototype which first flew at Downsview, Ontario on 27th March 1975.

        Since its maiden flight the aircraft has been used primarily on engineering and proving trials, with minor modification being added as required. With two more Dash 7s now involved in the development programme and the fourth aircraft due to be delivered to Rocky Mountain Airways this autumn, C-GNBX has been able to enjoy a working holiday abroad and in recent weeks has not only visited Le Bourget but has also carried out a European tour to demonstrate its STOL virtues to various potential operators. These included Air Alpes and our own British Airways, who are bearing the Dash 7 in mind for the Scottish routes and the proposed Heathrow-Gatwick shuttle.

        While C-GNBX was still at Paris I was offered the chance to sample the pleasures of this new airliner in French airspace, and so found myself in an almost empty Le Bourget terminal one afternoon with a Dash 7 boarding pass in my pocket. As we made our way to the bright red and yellow ‘NBX (and paused to have our pictures taken by a Canadian newspaper!), the large out-of-scale tail unit provided the first impression that this was no ordinary aircraft.

        On entry the second impression was one of surprise-the 46 seats* fitted two by two in the cabin don’t leave a lot of dancing room, and after modern widebody familiarity one needs mentally to adjust and remember the short-haul purpose of the Dash 7, where the average flight is unlikely to exceed one hour.

        For passengers sitting forward of the high wing the next Dash 7 feature to be revealed is just outside the windows, where two matt black and enormous 11 ft. 3 in. dia. Hamilton airscrews hang in front of each wing. As we strapped in and the starboard inner PT6A-50 engine came to life, the first airscrew began slowly to revolve, followed in quick succession by the other three. Even with all four propellers turning, barely more than a slight hum penetrated the cabin walls while we taxied towards the runway.

        On our left a silver Citroen 2CV with a roof aerial scurried like a Dalek across the tarmac on behalf of the ATC, and on our right the bulk of a Super Guppy loomed large in the UTA hangar as our naturally bilingual French Canadian guide gave a rundown on the Dash 7’s vital statistics: "The aircraft is able to operate comfortably with a full load of passengers and fuel from a 2,600-ft. air strip - the four engines each develop 1,120 s.h.p. on take-off-it is the world’s most efficient short-haul airplane."

        Out on the Le Bourget No. 2 runway our Captain, Bob Fowler, de Havilland’s Chief Test Pilot, opened the throttles to let 43,500 lb. of Dash 7 surge forward, With 25 deg. of flap we were airborne in quite a bit less than 900 yards, rising rapidly above six grounded DC-6s of the Armée de L'Air, and passing to starboard of "Charlie Airport", as the locals irreverently call the new Charles de Gaulle Air Terminal.

        We settled into the cruise just below the fluffy cloud base at 240 knots along with a positive level of resonant engine noise, reminding us once again that we were in a short-haul prop-jet. Production aircraft will feature improved sound proofing, we were told. A quick visit UP front showed a compact flight deck neatly laid out for two-man operation, with all the essential controls in the centre; in the tail were the usual services.

        Outside, the slow-turning Hamiltons were propelling us through a fine June afternoon. Some 8,000 ft. below, the Seine barge traffic could be spied chugging through a multi-coloured patchwork of fields and woodland. One of France’s many wartime airfields, now flecked with white Rallyes and Cessnas, passed beneath the wing, followed by an anonymous chateau garden. Now we were approaching the. north-west suburbs of Paris; a crow word puzzle plan of boulevarded and geometric streets, and mammoth apartment blocks. One group of tower dwellings is dazzle painted in reds blues, and yellows and I idly wonder what it looks like from ground level.

        Back inside ‘NBX it was gently trying to rain as condensation fought the prototype air-conditioning system and won. Our hosts confidently guaranteed to solve this minor but annoying problem in the production Dash 7. Such sorting out is the province of the third aircraft, first flown in May this year and engaged on reliability trials. An illuminated warning told us now that we were returning to the Le Bourget runway, although a glance out of the window showed us to be higher than the average ‘plane as we crossed the threshold. This was Captain Fowler demonstrating the Dash 7 quiet-STOL performance. Sure enough, in we came at 7 1/2 deg. straight on to the concrete, and with the minimum of fuss the flight was over and we were taxi-ing past Russia’s Tupolevs and IIyushins before coming to a halt in front of the terminal.