Cranfield Airport prepares for delivery of Saab 340B aeroplane

The expansion of the Cranfield University flying fleet draws closer as its newly acquired Saab 340B plane has received its registration number and the two pilots have successfully completed their flight training. The Saab 340B was transferred to Cranfield University’s ownership 12 months ago. It is the latest edition to the National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC) fleet at the University. In order to operate and manage the aircraft under the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s requirements, the University needed to re-register the aircraft with a prefix of ‘G’ showing it as a UK registration. This is now complete with the plane carrying the registration of G-NFLB.

The NFLC operates all Cranfield’s aircraft, including the flying engineering laboratory – or, flying classroom, a facility virtually unique in the European academic sector and used to support teaching, research and consultancy. The plane is replacing the existing Jetstream 31 and being larger, will allow for teaching and research with minimum reconfiguration.

Cranfield has been successfully fundraising to make the necessary modifications to the Saab aircraft, progressing towards a £3 million target, since April 2019. The fundraising is an opportunity for alumni and friends to sponsor an aircraft part ensuring that future generations of students and researchers can benefit from the facility.

The modifications will ensure the aircraft is upgraded from a standard commercial plane to a fully bespoke facility, with all the technical equipment necessary to ensure the testing of the boundaries of aviation. Students will be able to undertake flight test engineer roles and benefit from a range of in-flight experiences. The two former RAF pilots who work for NFLC are Rob Harrison, who has flown in Jaguar aircraft and Si Davies, who has flown the Tornado and is also a qualified Test Pilot. They have successfully completed type rating training in a 340 simulator in Sweden in an extensive four-week programme. Rob Harrison said: “The Saab provides a significant increase in capability for NFLC and Cranfield University. It is a larger aircraft and will allow us to fly more students as part of their engineering and aerospace courses.

It also allows us to carry out more research and industrial collaboration work.” As well as the increased size, the students who fly in the Saab will have improved interface between them and the aircraft. The flight data is captured and displayed on a computer tablet mounted into the headrest of the seat in front of the student. This will show information such as aircraft speed, engine performance, angle of attack and angle of sideslip. All of this information is used to analyse the aircraft performance and can validate the students’ theoretical studies. The relationship between Saab and Cranfield is well established with the University opening the first UK digital control tower at Cranfield Airport in December 2018. Supplied by Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions, the innovative technology replicates what can be seen through the windows of a traditional air traffic control tower. Saab is also a partner in the Digital Aviation Research Technology Centre (DARTeC) at Cranfield.
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Notes to Editors: For further information please contact: Media Relations, Cranfield University.
T: +44 (0) 1234 75 4999
Email: mediarelations@cranfield.ac.uk

About Cranfield University Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.

Aerospace at Cranfield Cranfield is the number one university in Europe for aerospace. We are one of the few universities in the world to have its own airport. Our history and heritage in aircraft research and design over the last 70 years is extending into the future with new capabilities in aircraft electrification, unmanned aerial vehicle technology and urban mobility. As the UK’s most business-engaged University, we have long-term relationships and close commercial partnerships with many companies in the sector including Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Our education, research and consultancy is enhanced by our world-class facilities including the National Flying Laboratory Centre – a unique national asset which provides a hands-on, flying experience – along with flight deck simulators and industrial-scale gas turbine engine test facilities used for performance and diagnostic studies. The Aerospace Integration Research Centre, a £35 million innovative centre built in partnership with Airbus and Rolls-Royce, fosters collaboration between industry and academia, and a new £65 million Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre is also being built at Cranfield to spearhead the UK’s research into digital aviation technology. Our global research airport offers a unique environment for transformational research. Interconnectivity between our facilities and across academic disciplines is enabling us to rethink the airports, airlines, airspace management and aircraft of the future in a holistic way. Barclay’s first Eagle Lab dedicated to aviation technology and supporting start-ups and SMEs opened on our campus in 2019. Our National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Centre – created with partners Blue Bear Research Systems, Thales and Vodafone – provides a safe, managed environment for drone and unmanned aircraft experimentation. Cranfield also has a long history in space systems, having undertaken space studies since the 1960s. Notable Cranfield alumni include Warren East, CEO of Rolls-Royce plc and Ralph Hooper, who attended the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield in 1946 and went on to become one of the UK’s most important post-war aircraft designers, creating the Hawker Harrier jump jet. 
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