1984: Canted Winglets Flight-Tested on the Saab-Fairchild SF340

It was an option not taken up and later made obsolete by engine and system improvements on the Saab 340B.

I love coming across stuff I didn't know beforehand and stumbling across this 13 February 1984 issue of Aviation Week was just one of those unexpected treats. A Saab-Fairchild SF340 with canted winglets!

Canted winglets (the A340, 747-400 have canted winglets, for example) were evaluated during the Saab-Fairchild 340 flight test program and at one point, the winglets were planned to be offered as an option on the 340. I am not sure if the option was discontinued before the start of revenue services or if no one was interested in the option. More than likely it seems that the power increases in the GE CT7 turboprops in the 340B variant probably matched what the winglets could offer.

159 of the 340A were built before production switched to the 340B in 1989.

The impact of the winglets was substantial- on a hot or high airfield with a 5000 foot runway, the winglets allowed for the payload equivalent to two additional passengers to be carried.

The aircraft had its maiden flight on 25 January 1983. The launch customer was Swiss regional airline Crossair which took delivery of their first 340 on 6 June 1984 and did the first 340 revenue services a week later Basel (BSL) to Paris (CDG). Interestingly, one of the passengers on that inaugural service was Pope John Paul II. Cincinnati-based Comair was the US launch customer of the aircraft.

Fairchild pulled out of the program after the first 40 aircraft were built when the company decided to get out of the aircraft business.