Southwestern Ontario is home to a collection of nine World War II planes called Harvards. They were built as training planes, to teach pilots how to fly and maneuver in sticky situations. Over 140,000 men were trained to fly on these planes, from North America but also from France and Poland.
Keeping the planes in flying shape takes a lot of patience and a lot of money. From time to time they offer 'backseat' rides as a way of keeping awareness up and the coffers, too! So yesterday Ian got his chance to take a backseat ride in a Harvard himself.
As luck would have it, his pilot, David Sheppard, got called into Formation duty for a private airshow that was taking place today. So Ian got the special thrill of flying in a formation training circuit instead of just a sightseeing ride. I know Rick will appreciate this - afterwards, Ian said "As a pilot I spend all my time trying to avoid other aircraft. Having to fly this close to other planes was a real shocker!"
Anyway, just thought a few of you would like to see a little (very poor quality cell phone video) of his flight yesterday. The unusual noise that the Harvards make is from the props, not the engines, incidentally. The props rotate so fast they are supersonic.
