Per Ardua Ad Astra (through adversity to the stars)

Nick Gass of Calgary shares this photo of himself climbing into a North American Texan (our Harvard) in 1952 at Centralia, Ont.

Gass was 19 years old at the time. “This (the aircraft) was one of the type that the Americans hauled up to the border in 1940 so Canadian farmers could haul them across thus avoiding the international neutrality laws,” recalled Gass. “Twelve years later (1952) we were still flying the type; tough aircraft, great mechanics!” We thank Nick for his contribution to Find-Share-Discuss, and invite readers to share similar memories of wartime or peacetime service.