Begin forwarded message:

From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

Subject: EPISODE 141 “I TURNED 90 AND TOOK OFF IN A HARVARD….”, SAID BRAD SCHNELLER BREATHLESSLY

Date: October 15, 2020 at 8:23:18 PM EDT

To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

EPISODE 141   “I TURNED 90 AND TOOK OFF IN A HARVARD…”. SAID  BRAD  SCHNELLER BREATHLESSLY

alan skeoch

Oct. 11, 2020

“Alan, What a day this has been,” said  Brad Schneller breathlessly.  He was so excited he could not

even sit down on our socially distanced  lawn chairs.  He was flying high.  Why? Because he

had been flying high an hour earlier.

“I just turned 90 years  old and got my birthday wish…a  flight in a World War II Harvard.”

“You did what?”

“Sandra and the kids, Anne and David, Booked a joy ride for me out of Hamilton Airport…on a  Harvard .  We flew southwest

to Caledonia…”

“Dangerous?”

“Suppose so.  The pilot told  me not to touch any of the controls.  The Harvard  was  used

to train fighter pilots in World War II…two sets  of  controls.  I kept my hands  clear.”

Brad  just could not sit down.  He paced up and down our lawn keeping his distance 

…masked of course…but as excited as a kid in a candy store.

Marjorie served them, Sandra and Brad, ice cream on a stick.  Brad wolfed his down

as he described the flight.   Then he looked hungrily at Sandra’s which had not been eaten.

Between bites he told us about the flight.

“Flying in a Harvard has been a dream that I never believed would actually happen. Years  ago

I remember a  Harvard coming to land on my friend Bill Greig’s farm near Rockwood.  It was magnificent.

But beyond my grasp.  Then today, as I turned 90, the dream became real.”

“The Harvard  only flies  on good  days…clear sky in other words…and today was  just

perfect.”

FACTS  ABOUT HARVARD HISTORY

1The North American Harvards first appeared in 1937 

2) 1939, first 50 Harvards delivered to the RCAF, Sea Island, British Columbia

3) 1940, metal fuselage replaces  tube and fabric structure

4)  1940-1, Canada receives 1200 American made Harvards

5) 1941, Canada  begins manufacture of Harvards

6) 1940 to 1945, Canada builds 2,800 Harvard  Mk 11B’s distributed  to 15 flying schools

across  Canada

7) Harvards were necessary bridge from the Tiger Moth to Spitfire fighter aircraft and  other

front line fighters.

8)1945, Canada keeps  some Harvards  as trainers but large number were sold to civilians

9)1949, Cold War with the Soviet Union – Canada realizes it needs  Trainers again

and leases 100T-6J Texans from the United  States Air Force.

10) Canada orders 270 more Harvards toBE rebuilt by Canadian Car and Foundry, Thunder Bay.

11) Harvards continued to be used as trainers until retired in1966

12) 1938 to 1954, three were 20,110 Harvards belt, 3,370 built in Canada

13) “Countless numbers  privately owned Harvards are still flying today.”

14) The Hamilton Aircraft museum Harvards was built in 1953, sold  in 1965, donated back in 1973 by Dennis Bradley, Alan Ness and John Weir

ANOTHER 1951 HARVARD BEING RESTORED

• Status: On display
• Airworthiness: Under restoration to flying condition
• Type: Trainer
• Built: 1951
• Serial Number: RCAF 20213
• Construction Number: CCF4-4
• Civil Registration: CF-UUU
• Current Markings: RCAF 20213

• Length: 28 ft 11 in
• Wingspan: 42 ft
• Power: 600 hp
• Engine: 1 x Pratt & Whitney Wasp R-1340-AN-1
• Maximum Speed: 180 mph
• Cruising Speed: 140 mph
• Service Ceiling: 22,400 ft
• Range: 800 miles

North American Harvard Mk. IV

“Alan, this day has become one of the best days in my 90 years.”

(And Sandra, sitting opposite Brad on a lawn chair, smiled…happy for her husband)

alan skeoch

Oct. 11, 2020