HARVARD HAPPENINGS

January 2006      33rd Edition

Happy New Year!

Next CHAA Meeting: Saturday, January 21, 2006: 10:00 AM- Noon

Guest Speaker: Squadron Leader Jack Malone served in WW2 in NW Europe and Italy and then during the Korean Conflict. He was the last Commandant of CFB Centralia and held numerous positions of responsibility after that time.

Condolences: Our thoughts are with Past President Kip Davis and his Family on the recent passing of his sister in California.

Secretary’s Notes from December’s Meeting:

-Guest Speaker Rick Macklam showed an excellent video of his recent flight in a P-51 Mustang filmed while on vacation in Florida.
 -Pat announced that Dave Martin’s wife had been seriously ill and a “Get Well” card was circulated and signed by those present.

-Procurement Officer Greg Burnard gave a quick over-view of the state of RZW:  the aircraft is now complete and ready to join the fleet.  As well, UFZ “Bessie” is mechanically sound and has been well looked after.  She is currently at the tie down area of the Chilliwack airport in B.C. awaiting more favourable weather to continue the journey to Tillsonburg.  Kent and Greg hope to make a second attempt later in January. Due to the extensive work done on the Annuals over the winter last year, two of our aircraft’s annuals for this year have already been completed.

-Walter Irie of the Recovery Group gave a brief outline of his recent visit to the old NORAD (North American Air Defence) command post located 700 feet below ground level at North Bay.  This facility, with its 1972 technology, is destined to be shut down.

-Treasurer Ray Whittemore reported having received the much waited for five year old Tillsonburg Airport Tax bill.  Ray will be making representation to the town to have the bill averaged out over the next 5 years.  February will be planning time again to coincide with the Annual Business Meeting.

-Interim President Roy Venn reported the following: The Website is currently working well and is being very well received. July and Aug./05 saw a ton of bills being looked after by a responsible, receptive and caring membership, who responded to an appeal by the board of directors for help.

Roy extended The Board’s grateful thanks to the association’s membership for its exceptional response.  “Restoration” is busy with the Rice Brothers heading up the building of a static Harvard. Flight time this year was good at 247 hours in spite of being one aircraft short.  The Yale engine is being finalized.  CHAA’s 25^th Anniversary is coming up (2010) and needs to be addressed to ensure a great celebration of all areas.

-C Tech O Greg Tyrell reported HWX’s engine tear down by Covington in the U.S. was well worth the money. Our maintenance programme this year has had a healthy jump start already and is proving successful. A new heating system is being installed soon in the hangar; this will be much better both economically and for the comfort of those working in the hangar.

-Meeting ended with much pre-Christmas socializing.

2006 Calendars: B Shepard, P Hanna and S Sparkes

Buying Calendars Locally: @ $10...

London and area: Bruce Tapp 519-668-2900 OR Forest City Surplus, 1712 Dundas Street, 519-451-0246

Sarnia and area: Wayne Wilkins 519-869-8119, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

St Thomas and area: Marion Bennell 519-633-0053

Woodstock and area: Bill Shepard 519-421-7399 OR Len Fallowfield 519-

Tillsonburg and area: Marg and Bob Hollister, 519-842-9567

Stratford and area: Bargain Mart, 145 Erie St, 519-271-7949

Kitchener and area: Spitfire Emporium, 666 Victoria St, 519-745-2661

Cambridge and area: Cambridge Surplus, 336 Eagle St N, 519-653-2946

Port Dover and area: Don Oatman 519-583-1292

Hamilton and area: Steel City Surplus, 182 Dundurn St S, 905-526-8551

Ancaster and area: Greg Tyrell, 905-648-2732

Toronto and area: Mish Mash, 2316 Queen St E, 416-690-3287  

Owen Sound and area: Deals, 955 10^th St W, 519-376-9148
Anyone outside of these areas: @ $10 plus postage...

email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and the number of calendars you wish to purchase will be mailed to you

Any questions, contact Sandra for clarification

Thank you for showing your CHAA support. Together we will keep our organization alive and our aircraft flying.

Thank you to each of the CHAA members who has agreed to be a contact for distribution of calendars, and thank you to Ray Whittemore for selling CHAA calendars in all of his store locations (as listed above).  Ray’s Spitfire Emporium, located in Kitchener, is your one-stop store for aviation collectibles! Visit in person or shop/browse online at www.spitcrazy.com 

2006 CHAA Dates:

-Saturday, February 18--10am to Noon: Annual Business Meeting

ALL members of CHAA are urged to attend and participate as the Board of Directors outlines the plan for CHAA’s success continuing well into the future.  Elections for Board members will be held if necessary.

Proxies for CHAA’s Annual Business Meeting: If you are not attending the Annual Business Meeting and want to use a proxy, they must be received by Bill Shepard by February 3, 2006.

-Saturday, March 18--10am to Noon: Guest Speaker George Johnston, Halifax Crew, Caterpillar Club, POW (Fascinating info on formation of the Caterpillar Club can be read at http://www.merkki.com/caterpillarclub.htm )

-Tuesday, April 18--7:30pm: Member’s Meeting

-Saturday, April 29--5pm: Annual Banquet and Fundraiser

Where:    Woodstock Legion, Woodstock, Ontario

When:  5:00 PM Mingling and time to browse the fundraising items

             6:00 PM Dinner (catered by Buzzy’s of Innerkip)

Cost:  $25.00 per person (guests are welcomed)

Tickets: available starting at the January 21 Members’ Meeting

-To order tickets contact Ila Fallowfield (519) 537-2257 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

-To make donations of cash or items for the auction, contact:

Sandra Sparkes   (519) 634-8360   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bill Shepard   (519) 421-7399   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Marg Hollister   (519) 842-9567   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pat Hanna    (519) 658-5464    This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

This is the main social event of the year for CHAA and we hope you are planning to attend.  Each year the auction grows and gets better with great opportunities to buy some interesting items.  Look for the return of the now famous BUTTER TARTS; there are already some challenges being made before the bidding even starts!  The speaker for the evening has been contacted but hasn’t yet confirmed, so you will be kept in suspense for a bit longer!  There are only 200 tickets available so get yours early!

Service Unit: Crew Chief, Al Spiers This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   519-537-5808

The Service Unit will be conducting a Service School for interested members and a re-qualifying course for current service members some time late March 2006.  More info will be made available in the Feb Harvard Happenings as for time and date. If you are interested, contact Service Crew Chief, Al Speirs.

Maintenance News from C Tech O: Greg Tyrell This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

-engine change for HWX is completed and has been test run 

-three annual inspections to be done, both at the hangar and at an out source facility.  When the weather improves, we will fly the airplane to the out source contractor. We should have only one airplane apart at the hangar at one time.

-members who are interested in assisting with supervised work on annuals can participate at the location most convenient to them.  Several have already expressed an interest and Greg is aware of them; anyone else can contact him directly via email. 

What’s Happening in the Hangars: Roy Venn This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

-The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association will be holding its Spring, 2006 Harvard Ground School Course over two weekends: March 18&19 and 25&26, starting at 0900 hrs and ending at 1630 hrs. For further information, contact Chief Pilot, Tony Donnelly  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tony has assembled a crew of good instructors who know their stuff and are willing to share their knowledge.

-YALE NEWS: You will be pleased to hear that CanAg has set April 1st as a target date to have Transport Canada start work on the Certificate of Airworthiness for the Yale. This next week or so should see the arrival of the registration certificate. There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for this project that has kept so many members busy for so long.

CHAA Dive Recovery Team: www.chaa-recovery.ca  

New Additions to the Recovery Team’s Website: Check out the “Documents” section to download the Harvard parts list, research reference documents and paper models of the Link and Tiger Moth.

You can help the Recovery Team in tracking down missing Harvards.  Many of the serial numbers have unknown deposition after the war and may have been sold as war assets. If you have any information or pictures of Harvards purchased as a war asset or through Crown Asset Disposal, please forward it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Here is a link to an unknown Canadian built Harvard: http://www.warbirdsofindia.com/wbchennai3.html

Membership News: Marion Bennell (519)633-0053 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2006 Membership is due. The Renewal Form is available in both the September and December copies of the ROAR and on the CHAA website (under Membership). The renewals have been coming in steadily – over 180 to date.  If your renewal is not received by March 1, your name will be removed from the membership list.  If unsure where you stand, contact Marion today.

As of December 31, Membership Summary for 2005:
120 new members, 7 new Life/Sponsor members, 8 new Harvard Hawks
Totals: 552 Life, Sponsor, General and Harvard Hawk Members and 20 Complimentary Members

 

CHAA’s 2005 Cash Calendars: The full list of winners will be listed in the March ROAR. The winners of the last draws from the 2005 CHAA calendar:

Nov. 27^: Tkt # 0238--$100--Mazie & Hector Ford, Melbourne Australia

Dec. 4^: Tkt # 0546--$100--Dan Johnston, London, Ontario

Dec. 11^: Tkt #1161--$100--John Jonker, Woodstock, Ontario

Dec. 18^: Tkt #1688--$100--Jill Beckham, Woodstock, Ontario

Dec. 25^: Tkt #1416--$100--Frank Hannah, Belwood, Ontario

Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thank you to everyone who supported this 2005 CHAA fundraiser.

CHAA Website: www.harvards.com Thanks to Lance Russwurm for his ongoing efforts to keep our site current; it features both the history of CHAA and all its latest news.  To remain informed, be one of the many who check it often.

Bingo: For more info on how you can help with this important aspect of CHAA’s fundraising, contact Bill Shepard This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and for upcoming bingo dates visit the Dive Team site www.chaa-recovery.ca

Mailing Address for CHAA:

Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
P.O. Box 175, Tillsonburg, Ontario N4G 4H5

If anyone has submissions for inclusion, they are welcomed at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 Until next time, clear skies, safe flights and smooth landings!