Yesterday I took to the skies over Northamptonshire and had the honour and privelege of becoming the 2nd generation of my family to take the controls of an A.T.6 Harvard.
It was a 40 minute flight,and after taking off and moving away from Sywell airfields flightpaths I was able to take the controls for about 10 minutes.
We then spent about 20 minutes doing aerobatics. Looping the loop,half loops followed by a half Cuban roll off the top,and a few barrel rolls inbetween.
As some of you may already know,my late father trained on Harvards at #1 BFTS in Terrell Texas in 1944/45 and it was incredible to experience flying in the same aircraft as he did.
Sad that he wasnt able to be there to see it,but Im certain he was up there with me,"dancing the skies on laughter silvered wings"





Nige

Congratulations on your flight Nigel!

Speaking from personal experience (I flew in a T-6 Texan about a month ago) I know what an absolute rush it is, and what a unique experience it can be.

I'm very happy that you got the chance to do this, and how great it must be that you have an extra tie to the machine through your father. Great stuff!

Did you get a video of the flight? I did and it's a nice memento to be able to show others what I experienced.

I don't know if you've flown in alot of smaller planes before, but this was my first and the immediate thing I noticed was how much you feel every movement. I'm wondering if you felt the same way. Thankfully, the aerobatics didn't make me loose my lunch, but they did tickle the tummy a bit.

Thanks for showing us your great pictures and congratulations again on a succesful flight!

John

Great story and what an excellent experience. I envy you. Even to sit in the Harvard would be a thrill, but to actually fly it...WOW!
Leon

Hi Nige!

AWESOME! I'm not jealous... not jealous at all... :-)

All the best

Rowan

Nige thanks for sharing the family tradition. Very cool.

congratulations Nigel ! I imagine it was a formidable expirience

That is fantastic Nige,
Wonderful story and I am sure a truely wonderful experience that so many of us would love to have. The closest I ever got, and ever will probably ever get was to sit in the cockpit of a P-51 Mustang and just daydream about what you actually got to do.
Congratulations
Wayne

Wonderful. I know you will cherish the memory.

Hi Nigel!

That must have been fantastic! I hope you enjoyed every second of the flight.
Did you kept your breakfast?

Jean-Luc

No, I'm not jealous at all, not one little bit Anyone seen my Japanese watch?
This would be all my birthdays and Christmas' all together, wow, it must have been fantastic.
Nice one Nige, and thanks for the pics
Mal

another person here who is'nt jealous :-) i really enjoy seeing (and hearing!) these aircraft, but to get in for a flight.... looks like you had a cracking day out, nice one!

Thanks guys!
It really was a day I'll never forget and a fabulous experience which I would recommend to anyone.
I still cant believe I actually flew it myself.
Nige