North American Harvard NA-26 NA-44
The North American Harvard appeared in 1937, in response to a US Air Corps proposal for an advanced trainer. The first of 50 Harvard Mk. Is ordered by the Canadian Government were delivered to RCAF Sea Island, BC in July 1939. By early 1940, the Mk. II was being assembled in California with an all metal fuselage replacing the original tube and fabric structure. 1200 Mk. IIs were supplied from US sources, until Canadian built Harvards started being produced in 1941.
In August 1938, Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal farsightedly signed an agreement with North American, to build the Harvard under licence. When the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) came into being in December 1939, Noorduyn received its first orders and went on to produce nearly 2800 Harvard Mk. IIBs for the RCAF and the RAF, between 1940 and 1945. In Canada, Harvard Mk. IIBs were used as advanced trainers with the BCATP at fifteen Service Flying Training Schools across the nation. They helped pilots make to the transition from low powered primary trainers, like Fleet Finch or the de Havilland Tiger Moth, to high performance front line fighters such as the Spitfire.
At the end of WW II, although the RCAF retained the Harvard as a trainer, a large number of them were sold off to civilian operators. The RCAF soon regretted this, for by 1949 the Cold War with the Soviet Union was in full swing and the RCAF urgently needed trainers again. 100 T-6J Texans were leased temporarily from the USAF and a further 270 Harvards, the Mk. IV version, were ordered from Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay. The RCAF used the Harvard Mk. IV for a further fifteen years, before finally retiring it in 1966.
A total of 20,110 Harvards were built between 1938 and 1954, 3,370 of them in Canada. Countless numbers of privately owned Harvards are still flying today.
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Harvard Mk. IV was built by Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay, Ontario in late 1951. The aircraft saw service at four RCAF flying schools across the nation until it was sold to a civilian owner in 1965. It was the third aircraft to join the Museum after Dennis Bradley, Alan Ness and John Weir donated it in 1973. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Wikipedia Harvard Advanced Trainer
CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF On Strength (2196), RCAF 400 Squadron (1), Canadian Aircraft Losses (374), RCN On Strength (3)Harvard Mk. II AJ652
Equipped with Dunlop pneumatic firing gear. Used by No. 31 Service Flying Training School at Kingston, Ontario. Category C crash at Kingston aerodrome at 12:10 on 14 January 1942 and at 12:15 on 18 March 1942. To Noorduyn Aviation 17 August to 10 October 1994 for reconditioning. To stored reserve with No. 3 Training Command when completed. To No. 1 Air Command on 25 January 1945, still in storage. Intercom installation completed 28 August 1947. Stored at Dunnville, Ontario by 27 November 1945. Reported on 6 January 1948 with 2984:30 total time, 130:20 since overhaul, fitment standard, condition fair. To Canada Car & Foundry from 9 December 1949 to 23 March 1950, for modifications. To stored reserve with No. 6 Repair Depot when completed. To No. 1 Flying Training School at RCAF Station Centralia, Ontario on 27 September 1950. Category A crash while with this School, 6.5 miles north of Aylmer, Ontario on 20 October 1954. Flight Cadet P.R. Lutes killed.
1941-08-20 Taken on Strength No. 1 Training Command 2019-08-20
1942-January-14 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Gray
1942-March-18 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Macallum | Newton
1942-December-16 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Cuthbert | Peters
1944-July-28 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Ambler | Gray
1954-11-03 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20