Originally Posted by
thing
Sorry for the thread drift but is Cranfield worth a visit? Caff rating etc? Flown past it a million times but never actually dropped in.
It's a university with an airfield on the side, which at the very least makes it unusual.
Eateries where I'm often found when on site:-
- Cafe Pacific, next to the flying schools, basically a high quality pilot's greasy spoon - nothing special, but that done well. Typical lunch about £6.
- Cafe Bookshop, about five minutes walk from the flying schools - all day, food, pasties, baked potatoes, stunning cakes, good range of teas and coffees, browse leisure and professional (aviation and management mostly) reading. Typical lunch about £7.
- Cranfield Social Club: "home cooking", fresh made pizzas or salad bar 12-2: bar 12-late, basic but bi and friendly. Mix of university and airfield people found in there most lunchtimes and evenings. Next to the Cafe Bookshop, typical meal a bit under a fiver.
There are other places on campus - the Student Association usually do a good curry, but I tend to avoid as it makes me feel old.
I'm not sure if you can just walk in, but there's a little gas turbine engine museum on campus somewhere, and a few other artefacts - the front end of a Nimrod and 747 simulator in the atrium of the engineering school building.
The library has one of the best collections on aeronautics in the country, housed in a building purpose designed by Sir Norman Foster - and that you can certainly just walk in. It's a few minutes from the flightline, and easy to find.
Standard landing fee last month in my sub-1000kg single was £6.50, I think that training IAPs are £16 or thereabouts - more approaches than you can shake a stick at (but not a VOR any more).
G