Going to Yale

The Yale was originally meant to train scores of French pilots - but ended up in German hands. Flying the only airworthy example in Europe

- Dave Unwin

Eeeeeeeee-urk! The rising whine of the electric inertia starter ends abruptly as I pull the red handle, the prop lurches, and then start to rotate as a couple of cylinders fire, stumble and fire again. The blades turn faster and faster as the big round engine rumbles into life. There’s a Spitfire in the circuit and a Hurricane taxying past, but any truly knowledgeable warbird aficionado knows that the most interesting airplane on the airfield today is the one I’ve just started, as it’s the only NA-64 in Europe.

Unsurprisingly, the North American Yale is very closely related to its stable- (or perhaps that should be school?) mate, the Harvard. The test aircraft was one of a batch of 230 built by North American Aviation at its Dallas, Texas factory in 1940 for the French Air Force and Navy, of which almost half had been delivered by the time France surrendered. And here’s an interesting fact: the Germans probably operated more Yales than any other allied aircraft, as they captured 93 from France and put them into service with 24 different Luftwaffe units. I first meet it with owner Ian Jones and instructor Neil Oakman at Fenland on a lovely October day. Ian and Neil know how to make an entrance and the Yale looks magnificent as it comes roaring into the circuit with the sun sparkling off its shiny silver fuselage. I am eager to get airborne but there’s a snag. The boys have got to be back to Duxford by 1700, the instrumentation in the rear cockpit is very limited and Fenland isn’t overly large when compared to Duxford.

After a quick discussion, we decided the prudent thing do is to get the pictures in the can today and for me to go to Duxford and get checked out in the front seat at a later date.