By Skies Magazine | March 10, 2014 Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 31 seconds.
The summer of 1939 was quiet and peaceful in Southern Ontario. But events in Europe, and most importantly in Britain, changed all that. By the year’s end, a new sight and sound was seen and heard in the skies…the throaty roar of bright yellow North American Aviation-built Harvard training aircraft. As part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), airports were built in little towns like Borden, Aylmer, Dunnville, Mount Hope, Fingal, and Jarvis – places that became as well-known as Toronto, London, and Ottawa.
Seventy-five years later, most of the old BCATP airports are gone now, swallowed up by time and progress, or reclaimed by nature itself. But Tillsonburg Regional Airport remains – a wartime auxiliary airport located near Aylmer, Ont., that is home to the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association (CHAA). Locals are reminded of days long past when they hear the roar of Harvard formations thundering across the countryside.
The CHAA was originally formed in 1985 in nearby Woodstock, Ont. Twenty-nine years later, the group operates a fleet of eight Harvards in Tillsonburg, six of which are airworthy, an NA-64 Yale (fresh off a 25-year restoration and just entering the flight test stage!) and a flying de Havilland Tiger Moth. Also affiliated with the CHAA is the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team, with three privatelyowned flying Harvards based in Woodstock.
This summer, the CHAA is inviting everyone to hear the roar of the Harvards. From June 20-22, 2014, the group is hosting “A Gathering of Harvards and Heroes,” to celebrate 75 years of the Harvard in Canada. All airworthy North American Harvards are invited to come “home” for one last reunion and mass fly-by… the largest Harvard fly-by since the Second World War!
The CHAA has planned three days of flying and story-telling to honour this great aircraft, and the unsung heroes who devoted their lives to training future fighter pilots in the BCATP. Friday will be an “arrivals” and get acquainted day. Saturday will be dedicated to the veterans who flew or maintained the Harvard in its long RCAF service life from 1939 to 1965, with a hangar banquet in the evening. Sunday will culminate with a mass fly-by of as many Harvards as we can safely put in the air!
The Tillsonburg Regional Airport (CYTB) has a main runway 5,002 feet in length by 100 feet wide, fuel and a restaurant. There are also aircraft maintenance facilities on site. If you missed the 75th anniversary of the T-6/SNJ in the United States, you still have a chance to celebrate with your northern neighbours! T-6s and SNJs are welcome at the “Gathering of Harvards and Heroes.” Make a note on your calendar and plan to attend!
For further information, please visit www.harvards.com, which will be updated frequently as plans are finalized. Also check us out on Facebook!
