For those World War II buffs, these two planes are sure to be a crowd pleaser!
The Harvard began life as a North American Aviation designed aircraft around 1934, commonly identified in the USA as the AT-6 Texan (Advanced Trainer). The term Harvard was coined by the RAF in England, and is generally referred to by all of the commonwealth countries, including Canada. Early Harvard models were built in California by North American Aviation, while the later Harvards were built under license by Canadian Car & Foundry (Thunder Bay) and Noorduyn Aviation (Montreal). Many Harvards served under the British Commonweath Air Training Plan (BCATP) in Canada.
The Harvard is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340, 600 hp supercharged radial engine. The propeller is 9 ft in diameter; the combination of a radial engine and propeller tips that exceed the speed of sound is what produces the Harvard’s distinctive roar.
Originally used as advanced trainers by the RCAF for the purposes of night, formation, aerobatic, light bombing and gunnery (later rocketry), they earned the nicknames of ‘The Pilot Maker’ and ‘Yellow Peril’. A common military saying was simply, “If you could fly a Harvard well, you could fly anything”; a testament to the Harvard’s suitability to it’s role as trainer.
Find out more about Yellow Thunder: http://yellowthunder.ca