The aircraft was manufactured in 1943 as an AT-6C-15-NT Texan in Dallas, assigned by the USAAF with the number 42-44038. In the following years she served to train new USAAF pilots in Texas.

 

May 1, 1950 the plane was bought back by the manufacturer, and modified in to AT-6D standard and sold to South Africa – SAAF in 1953. For the next few years it has been shrouded in secrecy, it is not clear whether it was stored or used for training. Other clear signs of the fate of Harvard are from the SAAF flight documentation until the late 1970s, when he flew in SAAF with the fuselage designation "7696". During the eighties she was equipped with SAAF at that time a very modern avionics from Becker and served, among other things, as an instrument trainer. The equipment allowed IFR flights under all weather conditions. She served in SAAF without a break until the mid-1990s, when she was withdrawn from service and sold to private owner in the USA.

 

After being withdrawn from the South African Air Force, he remained in a crate and was stored in the US for the next ten years. Then it was purchased by a pair of owners from the southwest of the US, had restored and put into operation while maintaining the maximum of original parts. Harvard remained in its original livery, in which he ended his service with SAAF in 1995, including a fairly faded paint, which won the 2009 Oshkosh Award for the most original AT-6 / SNJ / Harvard.

 

Due to the loss of health qualification of one of the owners, Harvard was offered for sale. During the winter of 2011 it was purchased by a group of enthusiasts from the Czech Republic. The original owner flew it along the Montrose (state of Collorado) - Rockford (state of Illinois), where it was crated in a container, transported on the ground to Montreal, Canada, loaded onto a ship, then sailed to Hamburg and subsequently transported by road to Hungriger Wolf. Here he was reassembled, flew, and then flew across Germany to his new home in Pilsen.

 

Thousands of Allied airmen were trained on this type of aircraft, including hundreds of Czechoslovaks who then served in the British Royal Air Force - RAF. AT6C Harvard Mk-IIa, which is part of the collection Hnagar 3 Museum, operated by Classic Trainers z.s. in Pilsen Line was repainted in July 2017 as the Harvard Mk IIa FX352 "11", which served in the 2nd training squadron 17th SFTS in Spitalgate, and reminds the less known, but important chapter of the Czechoslovak Air Force training units in the RAF.

 

 

Engine: One 600-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 radial piston engine

Weight: Empty 4,158 lbs., Max Takeoff 5,300 lbs.

Wing Span: 42ft. 0.25in.

Length: 29ft. 6in.

Height: 11ft. 9in.

Performance:

Maximum Speed: 205 mph

Ceiling: 21,500 ft.

Range: 750 miles

Armament: None

 

Origin: Classic Trainers