When Virtualcol released its Dash 8-100 back in October 2025, we noted that the Q200 and Q300 variants were pencilled in for December and January respectively. Both missed those windows, but they’re here now: the Dash 8-200 arrived on SimMarket on April 28, 2026, and the Dash 8-300 was released via the in-sim Marketplace on March 12.
The two new variants follow the same formula as the Q100: analogue cockpits paired with digital PFD and MFD displays, a Working Title-developed FMS (UNS), a tablet utility for doors, engine starts, and cabin crew voices, and an honest disclaimer from the developer that these are not study-level simulations. Navigraph and SimBrief integration remain absent from both, though Virtualcol says that’s still on the roadmap for a future update.
What distinguishes the Q200 from the Q100 is mostly under the hood. The -200 was launched by de Havilland Canada in 1992 and entered service in 1995, featuring more powerful PW123C engines that brought a 56 km/h increase in cruise speed, along with greater hardware commonality with the stretched -300. It also introduced an APU, which is modelled in Virtualcol’s version. The MFD in this variant operates in Full and ARC modes, with a map option in ARC mode pulling GPS data from the Working Title GNS530. Virtualcol lists 18 liveries including Widerøe, Air Greenland, Icelandair, QantasLink, United Express, and SATA, among others.
The Q300 is the bigger aircraft of the two. De Havilland stretched the original -100 fuselage with plugs fore and aft of the wing, adding 3.43 metres and increasing typical seating to 50 passengers. That first stretched prototype flew in May 1987 and the type entered service with Canadian certification in early 1989. Virtualcol’s -300 features analogue instruments with EFPD and EHSI displays alongside the same Working Title FMS, and comes with a more generous livery count of 38, covering operators from Air Canada Express and British Airways to All Nippon Airways, Lufthansa Regional, and Widerøe.
Both variants are priced at €17.49 + tax on SimMarket, a step up from the $12.49 the Q100 launched at on the Marketplace. That pricing places them firmly in the budget tier, alongside the developer’s own CRJ-200 and Airbus A220, and Virtualcol is transparent about what that price means in terms of depth.
For simmers who want a quick and accessible way to fly the classic Dash 8 variants, this series now covers three of the four. The Q400, arguably the most recognisable member of the family in modern airline service, is not part of Virtualcol’s plans as far as we know. That one remains the territory of Majestic Software, whose study-level Q400 for MSFS is still in development deep in the bunker and without any sight of a release date.
