Penhold Aircraft Marking
 

Does anyone recognize this marking on Harvard 2815..? Based at Penhold back in the day. A bit of a mystery. There is some speculation it had something to do those Army types who throw themselves out of perfectly good aeroplanes.. Thanks.

Dennis,

Can you elaborate on why you think it's Army vs Air Force? It doesn't look like any Army insignia I've ever seen, but it doesn't look like any Air Force insignia either. It's definitely a post-war photograph, which I'm usually pretty good with. Anything you provide?

Cheers,
Dan.

Another view of the same aircraft is attached. The symbol also can be seen on the side of the hangar. I suggest it is the symbol for a flying training outfit based at Penhold. Also a photo of the ramp at Penhold with many aircraft seeming to show the same symbol. See http://www.firethorne.com/NatoCourse...old/index.html
Googling didn't turn up reference to parachute training but did mention the PPCLI doing a drop in the area and some student pilots needing "help" to get back to earth alive. At a guess, the "A" shown inside the "1" might indicate "A" flight of the school, whether EFTS, PFTS, SFTS or other level.

The flying school located at Penhold, after it was created as a NATO training base, was 4 Flying Training School. Nearby was 41 Radar Station. After the creation of Communications Command it was the home of 743 Communications Squadron. No mention of a unit designated by a "1". But I like your idea of a flight designation, like 1 Flight of 4 FTS.

Still looking, though.

Cheers,
Dan.

So it's not Army...it's NATO.
Have been around Harvards as back-seat ballast since the 60's, but had never seen that crest before. Neither had several knowledgable aviation friends. We knew there was Airforce/Army co-operation squadron out West that used Harvard's.... and the insignia has a sort of "Airborne" wing look about it. Thus the request on this site.
Mystery solved. Thanks to you all.

I located the original source of the photo. It's from a website opened by a British pilot who was trained in Canada. He spent 1957 at 4 FTS in Penhold, after Centralia and before MacDonald. Anyways, he copied his graduation program from Penhold on the website. It can be found here. It shows that the flying part of the school was called 1 Squadron, and divided into two flights, A and B.

The badge on the Harvard consists of a figure 1 with an A inside. I'm speculating that it's for A Flight of 1 Squadron ofn the School. That's my best guess.

Cheers,
Dan.

Dan Martel. Thanks.