"HARVARD! The North American Trainers in Canada"
by David C. Fletcher & Doug MacPhail
ISBN 0-9693825-0-2

DCF Flying Books
1956 Dogwood Dr
Courtenay, BC,
V9N 3B4
Canada

$US34.95 including p & p in the U.S.A.,
plus $US5.00 p & p elsewhere
(Canadian residents $Can40.00 inc. p & p

Reviewed by Derek Pennington

This reviewer's first experience with a Canadian-built Harvard was in Singapore, in 1954. It came about that I had my first never-to-be-forgotten flight in a Harvard at night, when with Sqdn Ldr Langor at the controls, we did mild aerobatics over the Singapore waterfront.

Thus, when asked to do a review of this book, it was with a certain sense of relish that the task was taken on, while at the same time trying not to let the bias show through too much.

HARVARD! is simply a book written by enthusiasts for anyone interested in the aircraft, aviation historians, both professional and amateur, modellers, pilots and anyone else who appreciates a first class quality book on an aviation related subject.

The book is divided into fourteen highly readable chapters that, while not skimping on the technical aspect of the subject, make it possible to breeze through its pages in one or two sittings. The authors have been able to inject several items of humour that give a lift to what could have been a weighty tome.

By my count, there are 425 black and white photos that fairly leap off the pages, only 10% of which show bent aircraft, included in the main to show either markings or to emphasize that training on the Harvard at anytime could be a tricky business.

There are seven 5-view drawings in 1/72nd scale of every significant mark of the North American trainer, plus colour profiles, some colour photos and an aircraft appendix that traces the history of all the Harvards used in Canada. To this reviewer's knowledge, this is the only source to date which has correctly described and illustrated the Yale and the Harvard Mark I.

If you are at all interested in Canadian aviation or the T-6 family, then this book is a must. It is certainly the standard work of reference on the Canadian Harvards and the Yale has also been incorporated, it is unique in its comprehensiveness. It will be a treasured volume in any collection.