Harvards and Heroes gather this weekend at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport
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Two historic aircraft from British Columbia were among more than two dozen airplanes heading to Tillsonburg to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Harvard this weekend.
Inclement weather on the west coast kept them in the Oregon, however, and after three days trying to find safe passage through the mountains, they figured they would not be able to make it to Tillsonburg in time, and returned home. In good weather, the trip usually takes 12-13 hours each way – two days of flying – said local pilot and former astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason, who has made the flight from Oregon during his seven years flying the Second World War trainer.
"So the B.C. guys chickened out because of the weather?" Tryggvason joked, confirming their withdrawal with Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association president Pat Hanna.
"Chickened out?" said CHAA public relations chair Terry Scott, laughing while raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, you can quote him."
"They made it as far as Pendleton, Oregon," said Hanna. "They made several attempts to get through, but they couldn't. It was just a wall of storms swirling around. They did get lots of flying and they had a good time with the locals. But they couldn't get out so they went home Wednesday night. That's the best thing – I'd rather them be safe, home in a hangar rather than smacked up against a mountain because of bad visibility or something like that."
"It is a lot of flying," said Tryggvason. "Two days would do it. Three days would be more comfortable, but two would be fine.
"That plane we were just in," he said, nodding toward the apron where more than a half-dozen Harvards were lined up, "we brought that one from Oregon. It took us two days."
GATHERING OF HARVARDS AND HEROES
CHAA is excited to announce history will take place Saturday, June 21, when 12 or more Second World War Harvard aircraft will participate in a mass flypast to honour the 75th anniversary of the aircraft at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport. The public is welcome to attend A Gathering of Harvards and Heroes, admission is free, and donations to CHAA encouraged.
More than two dozen assorted vintage aircraft will arrive at CHAA’s home at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport from across Canada and the United States to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Harvard in Canada and to honour the men and women who were associated with the aircraft.
"We have a lot of veterans coming from the States," said Hanna. "And we have a number of guests coming who are ex-RCAF, by car, and we're really excited about that. We're hoping to get some really good stories from some of them."
"That's part of our 11 a.m. ceremony tomorow morning (Saturday) to honour them," said Scott. "We'll be taking some of them up for flights about 1 o'clock."
Veterans from the Parkwood Hospital in London were scheduled to visit late Friday morning.
"I think the ultimate event is the steak barbecue (Saturday night)," said Hanna. "I'm looking forward to the whole day Saturday. Opening ceremonies in the morning, and it's going to be exciting seeing all these veterans going for rides in the afternoon. The mass formation. We always love the aerobatics. Then in the evening, getting together for the steak barbecue, and the general is going to speak to us regarding his long career in the RCAF – he started off flying Harvards and ended up the top guy in the RCAF."
In addition to Saturday's events, the public is welcome for the mass flyby Sunday.
"The public is invited to the whole thing," Scott nodded.
"We encourage donations rather than charging admission," said Hanna. "We're hoping that they're going to come out and show their support."
"Help keep the yellow birds flying," said Scott.
"We want to see the 100th anniversary of this airplane," said Hanna. "Absolutely, yes, it can happen. We have a good inventory of parts, and there's a good inventory North America wide. It's a common airplane, so there's lots of parts available. As long as there's aviation fuel, that's the big thing. They keep threatening to discontinue it, but there's enough airplanes out there."
The 75th anniversary celebration has been in the works for at least a year, said Hanna.
"It was an idea from one of our members who said 'it's the 75th anniversary in Canada next year, we ought to do something,'" said Scott. "So with all the volunteer base we have here, it all just kind of came together."
CHAA has about 500-600 members worldwide, with about 200 of them in southern Ontario. The organization, which is now 29 years old, is made up entirely of volunteers – there are no paid staff members. Originally formed in Woodstock, CHAA is now based out of Tillsonburg with two hangars, a pilot building and operation centre.
CHAA's fleet includes eight Harvards, six of which are currently airworthy, an airworthy Tiger Moth and a restored Yale in pristine condition.
Those planes will be up in the air this weekend, in addition to the special visitors.
"Airplanes are kind of diminishing because of weather out west," said Hanna. "We lost our two Harvards coming from Vancouver and they're really disappointed about that. Another pilot from Ohio had to cancel, so we lost some of our Americans."
One American who will be here, said Hanna, is flying a Beechcraft (T-6) demonstrator from Wichita, Kansas.
"That's the modern turbo-prop version, so we'll have a 75-year different age span. He's flying in today. It's called a Texan II. In Canada we call it a Harvard II. They reinstated the Harvard name for it about 10 years ago, which I found very interesting."
"They run the Harvard II's out of Moose Jaw, and where else?" asked Scott.
"Just Moose Jaw," said Hanna.
"It's the primary trainer – the kids are a lot smarter nowadays," he smiled. "They go right into a jet-propelled airplane."
"It's got a little more high tech than what these things do," Scott laughed.
"They play video games in the sky and we've still got the old steam gauges on our planes," said Hanna. "We have vintage, original instruments, 75 years old."
The North American Aviation Harvard, or AT-6 Texan or SNJ as it was known in the US, was the primary advanced, single-engine aircraft used to train more than 130,000 aircrew under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada during the Second World War. With its distinctive roar, the Harvard was a familiar sight and sound at air bases across Canada.
A Gathering of Harvards and Heroes will also see the owners/operators participate in a number of workshops while networking with fellow Harvard enthusiasts.
The event also gives CHAA the opportunity to honour all veterans, including those after the Second World War – the aircraft continued to serve in the RCAF until 1965.
The initial celebration ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Saturday and will include a formation flypast. A short time later, several veterans – including one who is 91 years young – will take to the skies for 'backseat rides' in Harvards. In some cases, they may be the very same aircraft they flew as part of their training in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan or during post-war RCAF service. A Saturday evening banquet will feature guest speaker Lieutenant-General (Retired) Allan DeQuetteville, Commander, Air Command in Canada from 1995 to 1997.
A Gathering of Harvards and Heroes highlights:
Friday, June 20
* Arrival and practice day with media flights, Rick Volker aerobatic practice and large formation practice.
Saturday, June 21
* Celebration of Heroes Ceremony and flyover of Harvards at 11 a.m.
* Backseat rides for a number of veterans
* Workshops, networking
* Dinner Banquet with guest speaker Lieutenant-General (Retired) Allan DeQuetteville, Commander, Air Command in Canada from 1995 to 1997
Sunday, June 22
Mass flyover of more than a dozen Harvards at 1 p.m.
ABOUT CHAA
The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization with a Class B Museum designation. It is a dedicated group of volunteers established in 1985 to acquire, restore, preserve, maintain and display the North American Harvard and other training aircraft associated with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the RCAF. For more information, visit www.harvards.com. For more information on A Gathering of Harvards and Heroes visit www.harvardsandheroes.com.