The Harvard, named after the university, was produced as an export version of the AT-6 Texan advanced trainer. It became the standard advanced trainer for the BCATP in Canada and the RAF in Britain. It was used to train thousands of Commonwealth pilots for combat flying in fighters and fighter-bombers.
The Harvard was well suited to its training role, as it had enough bad habits to teach inexperienced pilots to respect their future, high-performance fighters. The RCAF kept the Harvard on strength as a trainer until 1966. The distinctive snarl of the Harvard has long been a familiar sound in Canadian skies and is produced by its propeller tips
approaching sonic speeds when in fine pitch at high revolutions per minute (rpms).
The CWH Harvard was built as a Mark IV variant by Canadian Car and Foundry in November 1951. It saw service at Centralia and Trenton training schools until 1965, when it was sold to the civilian market as surplus.
