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The Harvard, named after the university, was produced as an export version of the AT-6 Texan advanced trainer. It became the standard advanced trainer for the BCATP in Canada and the RAF in Britain. It was used to train thousands of commonwealth pilots for combat flying in fighters and fighter-bombers. The Harvard was well suited to its training role, as it had enough bad habits to teach inexperienced pilots to respect their future, high performance fighters. The RCAF kept the Harvard on strength as a trainer until 1966. The distinctive snarl of the Harvard has long been a familiar sound in the Canadian skies and is produced by its propeller tips approaching sonic speeds when in fine pitch at high rpm. One of the best advanced training aircraft ever built, the Harvard became a mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Harvard IIBs were first ordered from Noorduyn in Montreal in January 1940. Noorduyn eventually built 2,800 Harvards for the RAF and RCAF. Canadian Car and Foundry made 550 Mk.4s for Canada and the United States in the 1950s. The Mk.4 had an improved cockpit canopy and larger fuel capacity.
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