June 01, 2026: A weekend flight aboard a vintage Harvard airplane brought a Brantford man closer to the father he lost when he was just seven years old.
Clad in the weathered bomber jacket his father wore in the Korean War, Mark Colman climbed into the “yellow warbird” on Saturday at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport, the exact aircraft his father, Ken Colman, flew to earn his wings in 1948.
“To think I’m hearing and feeling and smelling all the things he did in this aircraft,” said Colman after the flight. “It was just terrific.”
The senior Colman was a U.S. naval aviator. He was deployed to Korea when his son Mark was born at a naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida in 1953.
A recipient of a navy commendation medal, Ken Colman was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1960 after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was just 32.
The weekend flight, offered by the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, was a tick off the bucket list for Colman, who has lived in Brantford for 14 years.
“I even got a chance to actually fly the plane (it is equipped with dual controls for pilot training). They gave me the stick for about 10 minutes. To hear that growl and feel the rumble is just an awesome thing. There’s nothing like it.”
In 2025, The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association marked 40 years of keeping the history of Canada’s Second World War “pilot maker” alive.
The volunteer-run group maintains an active fleet of Harvards and offers paid flights to the public. Saturday marked the opening of the flying season.
The Harvard is probably the best known and most successful training aircraft of the Second World War. As part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during the war, it helped more than 130,000 Canadian and Allied Forces aircrew to become pilots, gunners, and navigators.
Also called the “Yellow Peril,” the Harvard, notoriously heavy and not easy to fly, was a transitional aircraft that was a true test of a pilot’s skill. If they could manage it, it meant they were good prospects to fly single-engine fighters such as the Hurricane, Spitfire and Mustang in combat.
“It’s very nostalgic for people,” said Diana Spremo, a volunteer with the association. “People will come here with their fathers’ and grandfathers’ flight logbooks. It can be very teary.”
The association’s mission is to acquire, preserve, restore, maintain and demonstrate the Harvards. Spremo said they currently have a fleet of eight aircraft, about half of them in flying condition.
A registered charitable organization, the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association relies on donations and fundraisers, including the annual Wings and Wheels Family Fun Day in September.
The association’s pilots and service, maintenance and restoration crews are all volunteers dedicated to the same cause.
“We truly believe in the organization,” said Spremo. “It’s a tribute to those who served and a remembrance of those who fought.”
Article by Michelle Ruby. Article courtesy of the Simcoe Reformer. Click here to read the Original Article.