Classic Fighters 2009 #7: North American Harvard 3*

The North American Harvard 3* is arguably the most popular "warbird" aircraft in New Zealand [Although the Yak-52 is right up there also], especially with the type's military association with New Zealand as an ab-initio trainer for the Royal New Zealand Air Force [RNZAF] until replaced by the CT4/B from 1976.

The big attraction of the aircraft itself seems to be the well-known noise [produced when the blade tips exceed the speed of sound], which unfortunately I find a bit irritating. Still, the Roaring 40's team [based at Ardmore aerodrome near Papakura / south Auckland] do a fine job of displaying the aircraft.

The first picture in this post is bordering on being my favourite shot of the day. I've managed to "look through" the foreground smoke trail and focus on the aircraft - I think that the almost 3 dimensional effect looks nice.

There are actually two groups of photos here. The first consists of the Roaring 40's team, and the second is of NZ1015, a Harvard that is part of the RNZAF Historic Flight.