Скачать или смотреть Yellow Thunder at Yellowstone! Two beautiful RAF Harvards in a graceful formation flight display!

Yellow Thunder is a 2-plane, altitude-unrestricted formation aerobatic demonstration team that flies the Royal Canadian Air Force Harvard - the same aircraft designated as the T-6 by the U.S. Air Force and SNJ by the U.S. Navy.

Here they perform at the 2023 Yellowstone International Air Show in Billings, Montana.

ABOUT THE AIRCRAFT -- HARVARD
[https://yellowthunder.ca/home/theplanes ]
The Harvard began life as a North American Aviation designed aircraft around 1934, commonly identified in the USA as the AT-6 Texan (Advanced Trainer). The term Harvard was coined by the RAF in England, and is generally referred to by all of the commonwealth countries, including Canada. Early Harvard models were built in California by North American Aviation, while the later Harvards were built under license by Canadian Car & Foundry (Thunder Bay) and Noorduyn Aviation (Montreal). Many Harvards served under the British Commonweath Air Training Plan (BCATP) in Canada.

The Harvard is powerd by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340, 600 hp supercharged radial engine. The propeller is 9 ft in diameter; the combination of a radial engine and propeller tips that exceed the speed of sound is what produces the Harvard’s distinctive roar.

Originally used as advanced trainers by the RCAF for the purposes of night, formation, aerobatic, light bombing and gunnery (later rocketry), they earned the nicknames of ‘The Pilot Maker’ and ‘Yellow Peril’. A common military saying was simply, “If you could fly a Harvard well, you could fly anything”; a testament to the Harvard’s suitability to its role as trainer.

ABOUT THE PILOTS -- DAVID & DREW WATSON
David Watson

David lives in Beaumont, Alberta with his wife Caroline. David’s day job is running a business marketing software and providing consulting services for the construction design community.

David trained for his pilot’s license in the last Fleet Canuck in the Edmonton Flying Club fleet (C-FEOH) in 1985. Later that year, he immediately acquired a Harvard endorsement flying his father’s Harvard; the same aircraft he now owns. In 2007, he purchased a Yak-52 aircraft to fly competition aerobatics, winning first place in Sportsman’s category in 2009 – his first contest.

David is now a commercial pilot with an IFR rating.

Drew Watson
Drew lives in Ponoka, Alberta with his wife, Wendy, and his faithful companion, Knuckles. Drew’s love of aviation guided him into his second career and is now a professional pilot. His piloting career has given him the opportunity to fly corporate airplanes in Western Canada, pilot warbirds in Hawaii, perform at Airshows, and, currently, providing hail suppression services in Alberta during the summer and rain enhancement services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Winter.

Drew purchased his first airplane, a Fleet Canuck, with his brother, David, in 2000 and obtained his private pilot license in the Canuck in 2002. After purchasing his Harvard in 2006 Drew furthered his career in aviation by obtaining his Commercial Pilot License, in his Harvard, in 2008 and has since accumulated over 3,000 hours in 30 different airplane types. More recently, Drew has become and ACE (Aerobatic Competency Evaluator), evaluating other airshow professionals.