ATR or Dash 8? How to tell turboprops apart with confidence

A high-wing aircraft with two propellers floats over the threshold, the horizontal stabilizer perched on top of the fin. ATR 72 or Dash 8? At first glance, this is one of the trickiest questions at the fence, because both families follow almost the same blueprint. Still, there are a few features that reliably separate them. This guide shows you how to tell the ATR and Dash 8 apart, how to place the variants within the families and how to recognize other turboprops from Saab to Dornier.

ATR or Dash 8: the short answer

Look at the landing gear. On the Dash 8, the main gear comes out of the long engine nacelles under the wing. On the ATR, it disappears into two fairings on the lower side of the fuselage. A second feature follows from this that you can even see from a distance: The ATR squats low over the apron, the Dash 8 stands on long legs.

The tail doesn’t help you here – both families have a T-tail. You only need length, nose and propeller blades when you want to determine the variant.

Why the ATR and Dash 8 look so alike

Both families are built for the same job: short regional routes with 30 to 90 seats, often from small airports. The high wing keeps the propellers far from the ground and gives passengers a clear view downward. The T-tail sits outside the propeller slipstream. And because both manufacturers rely on engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada, even the nacelles look related at first glance.

Behind the ATR is ATR in Toulouse, a joint venture of Airbus and Leonardo. The Dash 8 comes from Canada: It was developed by de Havilland Canada, and Bombardier built it for a long time and marketed it as the “Q Series”; since 2019, the program has once again belonged under the name De Havilland Canada. The “Q” stands for “Quiet” and refers to an active system against noise and vibration in the cabin.

Feature 1: the landing gear

The landing gear is the classic among turboprop features – and it works even when the aircraft is taxiing straight toward you.

• ATR 42 and ATR 72: The main gear folds into fairings on the side of the lower fuselage. The engine nacelles stay short and end just behind the trailing edge of the wing. The fuselage sits so low that a tail stand is often placed under it during loading and unloading.
• Dash 8 (all series): The main gear retracts backward into the engine nacelles. The nacelles are accordingly elongated and extend far behind the wing. There are no gear bulges on the fuselage.

On approach, you see this especially well: On the ATR, the wheels come out of the belly of the fuselage, on the Dash 8 out of the nacelles under the wing, noticeably farther out. An overview of all landing gear configurations is in the article Landing gear as an identification feature.

Feature 2: nose, fuselage and stance

The silhouette follows from the landing gear. The ATR looks crouched on the ground, the fuselage hanging just above the asphalt. The nose is short and rounded, and the cockpit sits far forward. The Dash 8, by contrast, stands “on stilts,” the fuselage visibly higher.

Especially distinctive is the Dash 8-400: It has a long, tapering pointed nose and a very stretched fuselage. The older Dash 8 series have a rounder nose and look more compact. How to place types in general by nose and cockpit windows is explained in the guide Identifying aircraft types by nose and cockpit windows.

Feature 3: doors and hotel mode

At the gate, the ATR provides two additional clues:

• Boarding at the rear: On most ATRs, passengers board through the door at the rear left, with a cargo door at the front. On the Dash 8, the passenger door is usually at the front left.
• Standing propeller: Many ATRs have a propeller brake on the right engine. In so-called hotel mode, the engine runs on the ground and supplies the cabin while the propeller stands still. If you hear an engine running but see no turning propeller, an ATR is almost always in front of you.

Telling the ATR 42 and ATR 72 apart

The ATR family consists of two fuselage lengths, each built in several generations. For length, you look at the proportions, for the generation at the propellers.

Variant	Length	Propeller blades	ICAO code	Identification tip
ATR 42-300/-320	22.67 m	4	AT43	short, stubby, old generation
ATR 42-500	22.67 m	6	AT45	short, six blades
ATR 42-600	22.67 m	6	AT46	looks like the -500 outside
ATR 72-200/-210	27.17 m	4	AT72, AT73	long, four blades
ATR 72-500	27.17 m	6	AT75	long, six blades
ATR 72-600	27.17 m	6	AT76	looks like the -500 outside

Length: ATR 42 or 72?

On the ATR 42-600, the wingspan of 24.57 m is larger than the fuselage at 22.67 m. The aircraft therefore looks almost square and strikingly short, with only a few windows between the cockpit and the wing. The ATR 72-600 is roughly four and a half meters longer, and wingspan and fuselage are almost equal. It looks stretched, and ahead of the wing, significantly more windows line up.

Generation: four or six blades?

The early versions – ATR 42-300 and ATR 72-200 – turn four-blade propellers. From the ATR 42-500 and the ATR 72-500, there are six blades. You see the old four-blade aircraft today mainly with cargo and feeder operators, often without windows or with the window row painted over.

Between the -500 and -600, there is practically no reliable difference from the outside. The change mainly concerns the glass cockpit, the avionics and the cabin. Here only the ICAO code on the live map or a look at a fleet database helps. The ATR 72-600F plays a special role: a factory-new freighter without cabin windows and with a large cargo door.

Telling the Dash 8 series apart

On the Dash 8, you separate the series almost exclusively by length – and on the -400 additionally by the propellers.

Series	Length	Propeller blades	ICAO code	Identification tip
Dash 8-100	22.25 m	4	DH8A	short fuselage, long wings
Dash 8-200	22.25 m	4	DH8B	looks like the -100 outside
Dash 8-300	roughly 25.7 m	4	DH8C	medium length, round nose
Dash 8-400	roughly 32.8 m	6	DH8D	very long, pointed nose

The Dash 8-100 and the Dash 8-200 are the same length. The -200 has more powerful engines, but you can barely tell the two apart from outside – the type code helps here. The Dash 8-300 is visibly more stretched but keeps four-blade propellers and the round nose. The Dash 8-400 is the giant of the family: almost 33 meters long, six blades per propeller and the pointed nose. With up to 90 seats, it is bigger than any ATR.

Recognizing other turboprops

Besides the ATR and Dash 8, you meet other turboprops in Europe and on your travels. Three questions narrow down most of them: Is the wing high or low? Is the horizontal stabilizer on top or on the fuselage? Does the gear retract into the fuselage or the nacelle?

High wing with T-tail

• Dornier 328: Looks like a shrunken ATR – high wing, T-tail, six-blade propellers and gear in fuselage fairings. At roughly 21 meters, though, it is much shorter, and the pointed nose sets it apart from the rounded ATR.
• Dash 7: The predecessor of the Dash 8 carries four turboprops on its high wing – a rare, unmistakable sight.

High wing with conventional tail

• Fokker 50: High wing with six-blade propellers and gear in the nacelles like the Dash 8, but the horizontal stabilizer sits at the end of the fuselage instead of on top of the fin. Typical are many small windows in a dense row. Its predecessor, the Fokker F27, has only four blades and large oval windows.
• Xian MA60: High wing with Antonov heritage, low-set horizontal stabilizer, four-blade propellers and a slightly kinked wing.
• Let L-410 and Dornier 228: Small 19-seaters with a boxy fuselage and gear in fuselage fairings. The L-410 often carries extra tanks on the wingtips, the Do 228 obliquely cut-off wingtips.
• Twin Otter: Fixed landing gear and wing struts – that sets it apart from all the types mentioned.

Low wing

• Saab 340: Low wing with conventional tail, four-blade propellers and a short fuselage of just under 20 meters.
• Saab 2000: Stretched sister of the 340 with six blades per propeller and a significantly longer fuselage.
• Beechcraft 1900D: Low wing with T-tail, raised cabin roof, winglets and small extra fins at the tail.
• Jetstream 31: Very small low-wing aircraft without a T-tail, whose Garrett engines stand out with a high, shrieking whistle.

You recognize military turboprops like the C-130 Hercules or A400M, on the other hand, by their size, four engines and the raised rear ramp alone. The jet siblings of the regional aircraft also have their own guide: Recognizing regional jets.

Where you see the ATR and Dash 8

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, turboprops have become rarer; many routes are now flown by regional jets. Luxair still has a Dash 8-400 fleet and also brings it to German airports. Croatia Airlines, by contrast, is gradually retiring its last Dash 8-400s in favor of the Airbus A220. DAT Danish Air Transport flies ATRs, in part on behalf of other airlines.

If you want to see many turboprops in a short time, travel is the better option. In the Canary Islands, Binter Canarias operates a large ATR 72 fleet, for example at the Playa Honda spot on Lanzarote. In Ireland, Emerald Airlines flies ATR 72-600s for Aer Lingus Regional, easy to see at The Mound in Dublin. In Norway, Widerøe is the big Dash 8 operator with several series. An overview of the scene is given in the article Regional airlines in Europe, and small airfields with turboprop traffic can be found under Regional airports in Germany for spotters.

The reliable order at the fence

For step 4, the right camera setting is worth it: How to photograph propellers with visible rotation instead of frozen blades is explained in the guide Photographing propeller aircraft. And via the registration, you find out the exact variant – more on this under Finding and tracking an aircraft by registration.

Common mistakes

• Looking only at the tail: The ATR and Dash 8 both have a T-tail. It doesn’t separate them from each other.
• Determining the ATR -500 and -600 by looks: From the outside, both are nearly identical. Without a type code or registration, it stays a guess.
• Mistaking a Dash 8-400 for an ATR 72: In backlight on approach, both look similar. Watch the position of the landing gear and the much longer nose of the Dash 8.
• Overlooking the Dornier 328: It has the same basic shape as the ATR but is clearly smaller. A size comparison with vehicles on the apron helps.
• Writing off a Fokker 50 as a Dash 8: Both have gear in the nacelles, but only the Dash 8 has the horizontal stabilizer on top.

Conclusion

The ATR and Dash 8 share a high wing, T-tail and two propellers but differ clearly in the landing gear: fuselage fairing and low stance on the ATR, long nacelles and tall stance on the Dash 8. For the variants, you count propeller blades and estimate the fuselage length. You narrow down other turboprops with three questions about wing, tail and gear. If you’re still getting started in general, the guide Identifying aircraft types for beginners offers the right entry point.