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Saga of a Thoroughbred
Page 2 of 3
This Sikh flier was one of approximately 19,000
pilots who took Harvard
training in Canada during
The Second World War
During 1943 as the BCATP reached its peak output the Harvard kept pace and some were eventually modified as armament trainers capable of carrying machine guns, rockets and practice bombs. Student pilots of that era were thus indoctrinated in the art of offensive warfare prior to their taking operational training on more advanced aircraft.
In the late 1944 as the tide of war turned in favour of the allies, the BCATP was gradually phased-out until it ceased operation completely in 1945. The Harvard, rated as the finest aircraft of its class in the world had trained thousands of pilots, had flown almost four million hours and had played an inestimable part in the winning of the ultimate victory. At this time the future of the Harvard was uncertain. Many stations retained small numbers for practice flying and communications flights but the majority of Harvards on strength at the end of hostilities were placed in long term storage on abandoned airfields across the country. A period of readjustment [had] begun.
RCAF post-war pilot training was commenced on a small scale in 1947. Again the Harvard aircraft was called upon to be the prime basic trainer and in fact an experiment in one stage training was begun to eliminate initial training on an elementary type aircraft. A Harvard training school was established at RCAF Stn. Centralia and the first post-war course of pilot trainees graduated in 1948.
A line-tip of Harvards has been a familiar sightat RCAF airports for almost 25 years.
In August 1949 Canada joined with 11 other nations in the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and was committed to provide training facilities for pilots and navigators from NATO countries. The wartime airfields of this country once again reverberated to the distinctive roar of the Harvard aircraft as the RCAF commenced a rapid build up to meet this new requirement. Training schools were established at RCAF Stns. Moose Jaw, Claresholm, Calgary and eventually Penhold, to instruct trainee pilots from Norway, Denmark, Italy, France, West Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Belgium, Holland, and Great Britain. Many former instructors and wartime pilots were recalled to the service to man the re-activated Stations. Once again the sound and sight of the faithful Harvard became a part of the Western Canadian scene.
The Mk IV Harvard was introduced in early 1951. This latest version was of the same basic design as the Mk II but embodied more sophisticated instrumentation and a greater fuel capacity for longer range. A 10 channel VHF set and radio compass installation in the new models was a far cry from the original Gosport Tube, and later electrical intercoms, incorporated in the Mk I and II. Production of the Mk IV was carried out at the Fort William plant of the Canadian Car and Foundry Company where approximately 270 of these aircraft were manufactured. During this same period civilian contracts were let for the overhaul and modification of Mk II Harvards coming out of storage or from time-expired active service. As a note of interest, the Canadian Car and Foundry Company under a license agreement with North American Aviation, manufactured and supplied Harvard spare parts for Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium Congo, Pakistan, Egypt, China and New Zealand. Most of the Harvards held by these countries were manufactured by the Noorduyn Company during the war years and it has been estimated that there are roughly 2000 Harvards still providing useful service around the world.
The concept of using the Harvard as a combination elementary and intermediate trainer was discontinued in early 1953 and a return to the wartime method of having a lighter type aircraft as an elementary trainer was instituted. Student pilots of this period were given approximately 25 hours on the Chipmunk prior to proceeding to the flying training schools for Harvard training, where they received 162 hours of flying before going on to advanced training on the T-33.
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