The skies over Steinbach were rather noisy last Saturday. And an airplane that was used during World War 2 was the cause of all that noise.

The North American Harvard Mark II is one of six flyable airplanes from the Commonwealth Air Training Plane Museum in Brandon and on Saturday members of the public could pay to fly in the fighter plane.

Jeff Bell and Luke Penner from Harv’s Air were talking earlier in the spring and hatched an idea to bring a plane from the museum to Steinbach. Offering rides to students of Harv’s Air and to the public for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly in a fighter plane from the 1940s.

Bell explains that the Harvard is stationed in the only museum in the world that is focused on the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan that existed in Canada from 1939 to 1945. ‘That was a program that actually trained Allied aircrew for the Second World War, and it was one of Canada's greatest contributions to the war efforts.’

The museum has a lot of displays including the six planes they fly and highlights what it would have been like to be part of the training program.

The Harvard was an iconic aircraft in the Second World War and according to Bell, ‘one of the most prolific advanced combat trainers probably that the world has ever seen. It's very distinctive, it's a very loud airplane. It's got quite a presence, it's armed. They dropped bombs with them in the Second World War. They trained a lot of pilots to fly those airplanes.’

And the event on Saturday gave people a chance to ride in the plane, learn about its history and raise money for the museum and upkeep of the plane.

Bell says the event was a hit. ‘I think everybody was pretty excited about it. We had a lot of really positive comments. It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly in an airplane like that. A lot of people had relatives that had trained in that program and some experience with the Harvard.’

‘I took one gentleman that had flown in a Harvard that was actually owned by a high school teacher in Steinbach in the 60s. And he had had a ride in that airplane in the 60s, so this was his chance to fly in it again.’

From family members of those that trained in the Harvard at one time, to aviation wartime enthusiasts, many took the opportunity to fly. Bell reflects on one enthusiast, ‘we had one guy, Rob Fast from the golf course, dressed up in a whole outfit for his flight. I think people were generally pretty excited.’

Penner agrees, ‘it was awesome! I've been giving aerobatic rides for 16-17 years, so I've seen how people react to seeing the world upside down. But this whole other side; World War Two, the history, the passion and to combine all those things in one central place, it was just it was really good.’

The event overall was well received by everyone involved says Penner, ‘I think people really responded well, like our students. They're from all over the world around here. I think they learned a lot about the history of the airplane and what it meant to Canada and around the world.’

In addition to people getting rides in the Harvard, others were flying alongside and Penner says that was memorable. ‘We actually did a part of our flight where we were kind of in a loose formation. The person in my airplane could actually see the Harvard flying in somewhat close proximity. This big, bright yellow airplane, blue sky. It was powerful stuff.’

The sight of a World War 2 fighter plane in the skies over Steinbach won’t be a one-time thing according to Bell. ‘We had really good support out here, so we definitely will be planning to bring another airplane back to do this again.’

Photo gallery photo Credit: Jacob Oldenkamp of Kamphotography