Harvard 4

The Harvard is recognized as the greatest advanced training aircraft of the war. With its near fighter-like size and handling, the Harvard was the bridge between primary trainers such as the Tiger Moth and the high performance fighters of the day such as the Spitfire or Hurricane. Nearly 50,000 Allied pilots received their wings after qualifying on the Harvard at air training bases across the breadth of Canada as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) – the “Aerodrome of Democracy”. Somewhat forgiving to fly, the Harvard was an able trainer, but had just enough quirks and vices to keep students on their toes.

The High Flight Harvard is painted in the unique markings of a Harvard known to have been flown by Anglo-American Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee when he was in Service Flying Training at No. 2 SFTS Uplands in Ottawa. Magee is the iconic poet who penned High Flight, the iconic poem about flight in a heavier than air craft. High Flight is a requested reading at many an aviator’s funeral and was read by President Ronald Reagan at the memorial for the crew of the Challenger Shuttle disaster.