History | The Aircraft | Gallery | Back to Historic

This Exact Harvard left the Canadian Car and Foundry production plant at Fort William, Ontario in 1951 as a Harvard 4 and was taken on strength with the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Air Force) with serial number MM53846 later that year.

In 1981 the Harvard was retired from the Italian Air Force and ferried to Livorno Air Base for storage where it was put up for sale.

In April 1981 the aircraft was sold into private hands and ferried to the UK where it received a civilian registration G-BIWX.

In 2017 after many years of flying in the UK, the aircraft was sold to Jacek Mainka and ferried to Poland where it received a new civilian registration SP-YIX it has to this day.

North American Harvard 4

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1970s. Designed by North American Aviation, the T-6 is known by a variety of designations depending on the model and operating air force. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) and USAAF designated it as the AT-6, the United States Navy the SNJ, and British Commonwealth air forces the Harvard, the name by which it is best known outside the US. Starting in 1948, the new United States Air Force (USAF) designated it the T-6, with the USN following in 1962. It remains a popular warbird used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate various historical aircraft, including the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. A total of 15,495 T-6s of all variants were built.