#A41 Cranfield University, Saab 340B+ print
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. A41, G-NFLB, Saab 340B+, Cranfield University.
Cranfield University can trace its roots back to the 1940s when an investigation into the concept of a ‘School for Aeronautical Science’ led to the formation of the College of Aeronautics and its associated Department of Flight. The original equipment sourced for the Department included two Handley Page Halifax bombers and four Avro Ansons. Some of these aircraft became the first ‘Flying Laboratory’ aircraft for the college students. In 1950, de Havilland Doves joined the fleet and stayed in use for over two decades. 1958 saw the arrival of G-APRU, a Moraine-Saulnier M.S.760 Paris jet that was flown with three students, one up front alongside the department test pilot and two in the back. In 1969, Cranfield was granted University status and became the Cranfield Institute of Technology. This point also marked the beginning of a long association with the Handley Page (later BAe) Jetstream. In 1993 Cranfield Institute of Technology adopted its present title as Cranfield University and the Department of Flight became the National Flying Laboratory Centre. The Jetstream Mk.1s were superseded by G-NFLA, a Jetstream 31 in the early 2000s which faithfully served the NFLC until it was replaced by G-NFLB in 2021.
G-NFLB is the latest iteration of Cranfield University’s Flight Test Laboratory and Classroom. Based at the University’s own airport, it is a facility virtually unique in the European academic sector and is used to support teaching, research and consultancy. Manufactured in Linköping, Sweden, G-NFLB was one of the last Saab 340s off the production line. The aircraft was initially used by Mesaba Airlines in the USA before returning to Sweden to undergo modification for its current role at Cranfield. As a result, G-NFLB is now in a unique position to facilitate bespoke research work and to support the development and testing of new airborne technologies and procedures for future flight. The aircraft boasts a suite of instrumentation with data acquisition from sensors, an Inertial Measurement Unit, strain gauges and flight controls. It also carries both a spare avionics rack and a Honeywell Aspire 400 satellite communication system to enable worldwide data transmission in real time. During the 2023-2024 academic year, G-NFLB flew over 2000 students on flights tailored to their academic studies using equipment of which the original 46 students back in 1946 could only have dreamed.
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