Civilian Aviation

I was at Earls Colne yesterday morning to get photos of my brother enjoying his 65th birthday present which I and his wife bought for him inMarch 2020 (COVID strikes again!).

He had a 25 minute flight in G-TSIX including an aerobatics add on (part of my contribution as he wanted to do some) , here are some pics.....

G-TSIX (1111836) North American AT-6C Harvard Earls Colne 29-07-2021 3264 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-TSIX (1111836) North American AT-6C Harvard Earls Colne 29-07-2021 3305 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-TSIX (1111836) North American AT-6C Harvard Earls Colne 29-07-2021 6049 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

G-TSIX (1111836) North American AT-6C Harvard Earls Colne 29-07-2021 6068 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

He suggested that I might like to do the same for my 70th next year - I'm thinking about it but not the aerobatics! He's got his eyes on the Stearman next , he did a Spitfire from Biggin for his 60th and got me a Tiger moth flight for my 65th , our father learn to fly in the RAF on Tiger Moths and Harvards in South Africa so there's a bit of nostalgia involved

thanks for looking C&C welcome
Andy

Nice shots and what a great birthday present to get for him, he's one very lucky fella.

Great gift and a lovely marked aircraft too.

BTW I changed my post heading to 2021 - surprised Mike didn't notice

Nighthawke wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:06 pm

Great gift and a lovely marked aircraft too.

BTW I changed my post heading to 2021 - surprised Mike didn't notice!

I can't believe I didn't notice that!

Andy, so what's your excuse for thinking that this is 2019?

Wishful thinking for better times maybe...

Mike wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:25 pm

Nighthawke wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:06 pm

Great gift and a lovely marked aircraft too.

BTW I changed my post heading to 2021 - surprised Mike didn't notice!

I can't believe I didn't notice that!

Andy, so what's your excuse for thinking that this is 2019?

I've no idea what I was thinking of - very shoddy management on here isn't it?

Welcome to the year 2021 !!

Nice shots Andy, it's a very distinctive scheme on that one. Sometimes see this Harvard popping up on the tracking sites - are they a busy operation?

thanks Dan , they do the flights regularly and the Harvard tracks on FR24, that shows regular flights over the last month. The Harvard is part of the Anglian Flight Centre fleet which has the Harvard, Stearman and Firefly available for visitor experiences as well as 2 and 4 seat aircraft for general flying. They are somewhat cheaper than the Duxford ones!

It's a nice aircraft and is a 1942 vintage, served with the RAF in South Africa as part of the Commonwealth training scheme with the South African Air Force. My father learnt to fly under that scheme starting on Tiger moths in the UK before being selected for the South African training scheme where he did more Tiger Moth training and then onto Harvards. I've checked his records but he didn't fly this one. His very first Tiger Moth that he flew in the UK is still active (G-APAM) and I visited the owner and sat in that 4 years ago - somewhat nostalgic!

Andy

Lovely bird ! That mighty sound, that you not only hear but also feel