Hi Chest,
I downsized myself from B747 and DC 10 to the Q400, best decision I have ever made.
Compared to my KLM years I see more of the aircraft and less of only one part of it.
On top of this we do flying spanner as well if the planes have to go away for more than a week.
And the summer is about 10 months over here compared to the 10 days in Amsterdam
See my thread for B1 in the south of France and send me a mail for more info...
Good luck with whichever decision your going to make
Gerrit