TILLSONBURG, ONTARIO – January 2025 – The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, based in Tillsonburg, Ontario, is thrilled to be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025. The Association was created in 1985 by three aviation enthusiasts who had a dream to preserve the Harvard aircraft as an honour and remembrance to the men and women who flew them and worked on them in order to help preserve our freedom.
Today, the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is a registered charitable organization, run 100% by volunteers, who have given nothing short of dedication and passion to upkeep North America’s largest fleet of Harvards. Eight Harvards and one Yale are based at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport.
“Keeping these warbirds in flying condition is a colossal task,” says Walther Irie, President of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. “Yet our volunteers are dedicated to keeping the legacy of the Harvard alive, and preserving its historical significance,” he added.
The Harvard aircraft, now more than 80 years old, was the workhorse of Canada’s Second World War flight training program. It played a significant and pivotal role in the Royal Canadian Air Force as the primary advanced, single-engine aircraft used to train more than 130,000 Canadian and Allied aircrew under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. “The Plan” was a large-scale multinational military training program that trained more than 130,000 pilots, navigators, gunners and engineers from around the globe. With its distinctive roar, the Harvard was a familiar sight and sound at more than 150 air bases across Canada.
The organization has received minimal government funding over the years and raises its funds through a number of campaigns, events and initiatives, including taking passengers for flight experiences. Almost anyone can fly like young men did so many years ago.
Irie added, “We’ve had Second World War veterans visit us with their flight logbooks, and when they climb into the cockpit again their faces can either light up or fill with tears. It’s difficult to comprehend what is going through their minds, but for us, it makes all our efforts worthwhile to give them this opportunity.”
A number of special events are planned for 2025 to commemorate the 40th anniversary, including a special FREE ADMISSON Open House Fly Day on Saturday, July 5, 2025 (Flights additional cost) (Rain date: Sunday, July 6). Other events will be listed on CHAA’s pending new website.
About the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization based out of the Tillsonburg Regional Airport, run by a group of dedicated volunteers. Established in 1985, its mission is to acquire, restore, preserve, maintain and display the North American Harvard aircraft and other training aircraft associated with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
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