92-year-old pilot gets chance to fly plane he first flew with RCAF

Ron Duholke, 92, took to the skies on Tuesday in a Harvard aircraft, the same type of plane he flew for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1956.

A 92-year-old pilot soared through the skies over Cooking Lake Tuesday, bringing a part of his past with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) into the present.

Ron Duholke trained as a pilot in 1956 with a Harvard plane, the most successful training aircraft of World War II, according to the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association (CHAA).

“We did instrument flight rules training, cross-country training, and then we got into aerobatics and flying instruments on a limited panel, which means I put a bag over the cockpit so you can’t see outside, you just fly by instruments,” Duholke said.

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More than 130,000 Canadian and allied troops trained with those planes to be pilots, gunners, navigators and more during the war.

It’s been nearly 70 years since Duholke has been in one, until Tuesday.

On the weekend, he was talking to another pilot, Brock Allison, at the Cooking Lake Airport. Allison happens to be the owner of the same type of iconic plane – known as the ‘pilot maker’ and ‘Yellow Peril’ according to the CHAA – that Duholke used to fly.

Allison says he was “amazed” to meet someone who used to fly a Harvard and invited Duholke for a flight.

“People like Ron are a connection with history,” Allison said. “He still remembers the power settings that he would use for takeoff, climb, cruise, aerobatics. He remembers that from 70 years ago. I was just amazed that his mind is so sharp.

“It’s just an amazing opportunity for me and a lot of the other people here at the airport.”

Duholke says the Harvard is a “fun” plane to fly and the closest thing to a fighter plane without it actually being classified as one.

“During basic training time, it was all exciting, and I’ve got that same feeling again today, because it’s been such a long time since I’ve been in one, so I feel like I’m starting all over again, almost,” Duholke added.

Once the two were in the air, Duholke got the chance to control the plane, bringing him back to his 20s in the RCAF.

“I’m so grateful, I can’t even express it,” he said. “Flying this kind of aircraft, you can’t describe it … I forgot how amazing, how much fun it was.

“Brock did a loop and a couple of rolls off the top and let me fly it a bit. I didn’t want to do a loop, but I should have tried one.”

Allison said there are only a handful of Harvard planes still flying in Alberta, around five, and only around 20 to 25 flying in Canada.

“This is a very popular vintage, or antique, aircraft … they’re very rare,” Allison said.

Some of the people at the airport were also taking pictures of Duholke next to the Harvard, trying to recreate a photo he took in the 1950s with another plane.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti