The History of the Goodwood Harvard

The Spitfire is often thought of as the iconic aircraft of WW2. However, the real workhorse behind getting pilots ready for flying was the North American T-6, or Harvard as it was known in the RAF.

More than 16,000 Harvard airframes were built, training pilots from over 30 countries during their service career. It remains a popular warbird with pilots to this day.

The Goodwood Harvard IIb was built in Canada in 1943. After the factory test flight she was selected for shipment to the RAF, leaving Newark, New Jersey on the 24 December 1943, arriving in Liverpool on the 6 January 1944. The following January the aircraft was put into storage.

On the 29th October 1946 she was taken out of storage and put back in the air. Her new life was in Europe, first with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, in 1947 she was moved to Sweden and ended up on the civil register in 1969.

The aircraft moved to the UK and was owned by various people, including the famous singer, songwriter and musician, Gary Numan before being purchased by Goodwood.

One pilot who flew Harvards during the war was Warrant Officer Peter Hale. He was a Harvard Flight Instructor in Canada before going on to fly Spitfires.