Fly straight out of Compton Abbas in a T6-Texan! This star-turn amongst the fleet of warbirds and modern aircraft at Compton can’t wait to take you for a spin at this one of the highest civil aviation airfields in the country sitting pretty in Dorset at 811ft above sea level!
You might know this old warbird as a Texan or a Harvard but the name doesn’t really matter; as soon as you hear that Pratt and Whitney Wasp engine start up you will be bowled over by that very distinctive noise and as keen as mustard to get flying!
This Harvard was bought by this Dorset-based operator in the summer of 2015 having spent many years flying in the US of A before arriving at Compton Abbas via the Czech Republic. Built in 1946 and delivered to the US Navy as SNJ-5 she then began civvy life in 1963 being re-registered as N6972C.
We have to admit we think this is one of the finest Harvards out there today and she sports a very nice silver grey livery with that bright red cowling making her upright stance look even more menacing. Inside the cockpit it’s a tandem seating arrangement and passengers will be sitting behind the pilot for these thrilling experiences.
We’re offering four different Harvard flight packages for you all of which will see you heading over the Wiltshire and Dorset countryside. If you pick the 20 or 30 minute flights you’ll be staying local but it is a no less beautiful itinerary as you swoop over the likes of the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Salisbury and even alongside the borders of the New Forest National Park.
On the 45 minute experience you’ll head from Compton Abbas in your Harvard and head to the coast. A south-easterly direction will lead you to the seafront locations all around magnificent Poole harbour which has to be one of the most sought after areas of Dorset especially Sandbanks.
Those lucky enough to be going up in this Marines At-6C Mk2a version of the Texan for a whole hour will be able to relish all that air time to to really take in what being in one of these fabulous old war bird planes is all about all whilst you sweep over the stunning Jurassic coastline. If the weather is on your side you might even get as far as the Isle of Wight before turning back through Wiltshire and back to your Dorset base.
Let this all-American T-6 Texan show you the breathtaking scenery Dorset has to offer and get to experience first hand what it must’ve been like for novice pilots in post-war America training to fly one of these things. Chocks away!
