{"id":6149,"date":"2020-10-15T20:32:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T00:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6149"},"modified":"2020-10-15T20:33:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T00:33:58","slug":"fwd-episode-141-i-turned-90-and-took-off-in-a-harvard-said-brad-schneller-breathlessly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6149","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 141 “I TURNED 90 AND TOOK OFF IN A HARVARD….”, SAID BRAD SCHNELLER BREATHLESSLY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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Subject: <\/b><\/span>EPISODE 141 “I TURNED 90 AND TOOK OFF IN A HARVARD….”, SAID BRAD SCHNELLER BREATHLESSLY<\/b>
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Date: <\/b><\/span>October 15, 2020 at 8:23:18 PM EDT
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To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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EPISODE 141   \u201cI TURNED 90 AND TOOK OFF IN A HARVARD\u2026\u201d. SAID  BRAD  SCHNELLER BREATHLESSLY<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Oct. 11, 2020<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, What a day this has been,\u201d said  Brad Schneller breathlessly.  He was so excited he could not<\/div>\n
even sit down on our socially distanced  lawn chairs.  He was flying high.  Why? Because he<\/div>\n
had been flying high an hour earlier.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI just turned 90 years  old and got my birthday wish\u2026a  flight in a World War II Harvard.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou did what?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSandra and the kids, Anne and David, Booked a joy ride for me out of Hamilton Airport\u2026on a  Harvard .  We flew southwest<\/div>\n
to Caledonia…\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDangerous?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSuppose so.  The pilot told  me not to touch any of the controls.  The Harvard  was  used<\/div>\n
to train fighter pilots in World War II\u2026two sets  of  controls.  I kept my hands  clear.”<\/div>\n

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Brad  just could not sit down.  He paced up and down our lawn keeping his distance <\/div>\n
\u2026masked of course\u2026but as excited as a kid in a candy store.<\/div>\n
Marjorie served them, Sandra and Brad, ice cream on a stick.  Brad wolfed his down<\/div>\n
as he described the flight.   Then he looked hungrily at Sandra\u2019s which had not been eaten.<\/div>\n
Between bites he told us about the flight.<\/div>\n

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\u201cFlying in a Harvard has been a dream that I never believed would actually happen. Years  ago<\/div>\n
I remember a  Harvard coming to land on my friend Bill Greig\u2019s farm near Rockwood.  It was magnificent.<\/div>\n
But beyond my grasp.  Then today, as I turned 90, the dream became real.”<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe Harvard  only flies  on good  days\u2026clear sky in other words\u2026and today was  just<\/div>\n
perfect.\u201d<\/div>\n

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FACTS  ABOUT HARVARD HISTORY<\/div>\n

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1The North American Harvards first appeared in 1937 <\/div>\n
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2) 1939, first 50 Harvards delivered to the RCAF, Sea Island, British Columbia<\/div>\n
3) 1940, metal fuselage replaces  tube and fabric structure<\/div>\n
4)  1940-1, Canada receives 1200 American made Harvards<\/div>\n
5) 1941, Canada  begins manufacture of Harvards<\/div>\n
6) 1940 to 1945, Canada builds 2,800 Harvard  Mk 11B\u2019s distributed  to 15 flying schools<\/div>\n
across  Canada<\/div>\n
7) Harvards were necessary bridge from the Tiger Moth to Spitfire fighter aircraft and  other<\/div>\n
front line fighters.<\/div>\n
8)1945, Canada keeps  some Harvards  as trainers but large number were sold to civilians<\/div>\n
9)1949, Cold War with the Soviet Union – Canada realizes it needs  Trainers again<\/div>\n
and leases 100T-6J Texans from the United  States Air Force.<\/div>\n
10) Canada orders 270 more Harvards toBE rebuilt by Canadian Car and Foundry, Thunder Bay.<\/div>\n
11) Harvards continued to be used as trainers until retired in1966<\/div>\n
12) 1938 to 1954, three were 20,110 Harvards belt, 3,370 built in Canada<\/div>\n
13) \u201cCountless numbers  privately owned Harvards are still flying today.”<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ANOTHER 1951 HARVARD BEING RESTORED<\/div>\n

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