On 12/19/40 a North American Aviation Harvard piloted by Bud Hussey, was on a flight from Palmdale, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. Hussey was a ferry pilot for North American and the airplane was one of a group of Harvards that were on their first leg of a delivery flight to Montreal, Canada. The flight took off at approximately 7:30am and was due at Las Vas Vegas within two hours. When Hussey's airplane failed to arrive, the others in the flight group joined the search for the missing airplane. After four days, the group abandoned their search and resumed their flight to deliver the Harvards to the Canadian Royal Air Force. On 1/16/42 the missing airplane was finally found by Pat Frank, a cowboy looking for stray cattle in the mountains of what is now the Mojave National Preserve. The body of the missing pilot was never found, but Christmas cards dated December 19 found in a suitcase with the scattered wreckage of the airplane bore the pilot's name.

The Harvard was the British Commonwealth air forces designation for North American's AT-6 Texan advanced trainer.

After checking out the HRS-2 crash site, I drove to another area in the Mojave National Preserve to search for a North American Harvard site.

On the hike. I made an attempt at locating this crash site last year with no luck. I'm trying a different area this time.

While hiking towards the area I was hoping to find the site, I just happened to look up and to one side and saw something on a slope about two hundred yards away. It wasn't where I expected the Harvard to be, but decided to check it out. As I approached the area, came upon this piece of aluminum tubing.

Nearby I found another piece. At this point I thought that I might have accidently found another site. Was still thinking that the Harvard would be in a nearby canyon.

As I approached the area, I could see wreckage scattered across the slope.

This piece is about twenty inches long.

It had a North American Aviation inspection stamp.

Soon as I spotted this yellow piece I knew that I had found the Harvard site. Was happy that I spotted the wreckage before hiking into the other canyon.

Didn't take long to start finding more pieces.

This large piece is from the wing center section.

Closer view of the wing structure.

According to the Harvard parts list, this part is a "Wing center section rear spar attaching fitting".

Me with the piece from the wing.

Looks like this piece might be from the fuselage.

This piece has a handle on it.

Closer view of the handle.

Turning it over, could see that it's from the lower frame of the canopy.

Close up of the section with the handle.

A smashed piece at the base of a tree.

It had a panel with a hinge and dzus fasteners.

It also had a cover marked with "24STA'.

There were a lot of unidentifiable pieces like this scattered over the area.

This piece was wedged between a cactus and a rock.

Closer view of the same piece.

Small access door from one of the wheel wells.

Group of pieces.

This one is about two feet long.

Looks like this might be from the wing's shear webbing.

This was an interesting piece.

It had this fitting on it, no idea what it's for.

Bracket on the same piece.

Aluminum tubing.

This piece from the fuselage frame has tubes bent back from the impact.

Closer view showing the roll bar.

Ignition switch from the rear cockpit.

This part is bolted on the frame. No idea what's for.

This part is a mystery to me. It's about four feet long made from aluminum except the steel tube on the right.

This part of it looks like it could be the control horns for the rudder, but they don't match the photos I have of AT-6s.

The end has this fitting.

This part is almost identical to the one on the end of the previous part. It has an additional attachment point and three tapped holes. The tube is broken off this one.

Piece of the fuselage frame with part of the engine mount attached.

Close up of the piece of engine mount bolted to the frame.

This piece had a small opening. Looks like it might be for a navigation light.

Electrical cable with what looks like a socket with the remains of a light bulb in it.

Track for the sliding canopy.

Close up of the canopy track.

Think that this four foot long piece is from the fuselage.

The other side of the same piece showing the control cable pulleys on the right.

Closer view of the pulleys.

Part number and inspection stamp on the same piece. Many of the pieces had part numbers and inspection stamps.

One of the landing gear doors.

The other side of the door.

Another piece from the fuselage frame.

Another track and pieces from the canopy.

Group of pieces.

Part of the canopy frame.

Another piece from the canopy frame.

Coiled tubing about two inches in diameter with some type of insulation on it.

Another piece from the fuselage frame.

Closer view of the same piece of frame.

Looks like a piece from the wing joint between one of the inner and outer sections.

Looking back as I make my way farther up the slope.

Another piece from the fuselage frame.

The Harvard's long engine exhaust pipe.

It still had part of the exhaust manifold and engine mount attached.

View from the other side showing the piece of the engine mount.

One last piece from the fuselage frame. Pieces of the frame were scattered over a large area.

This piece had an interesting looking part attached. It's about eighteen inches long and made from cast aluminum, wasn't able the figure out what it is.

Another coiled insulated tube.

A hinge, no idea where it's from.

This is the only piece that I found with a tag.

Close up of the tag.

One of the ailerons. This is about half of it, the trim tab would be in the center.

This view shows the trim tab, part of it's linkage and a hinge.

Part of the counter weight can be seen in it's leading edge.

Found the other aileron nearby.

A little bit of the fabric covering remained.

Only found traces of the engine. This part is from one of the valve pushrod tubes.

A fairly large piece of wreckage.

The other side of the same piece. Looks like it might be the center section of the horizontal stabilizer.

Closer view.

Think that this piece might be from the wing.

Guessing that this is a hinge from one of the control surfaces.

Access cover, wasn't able to read the lettering.

Looks like a piece of the joint that attaches the outer wings to the center section.

Another view of the same piece. This was the last piece found as I started the hike out.

On the hike back to the truck. This turned out to be a great day. Was able to visit two sites in a scenic area and had good weather to do it in.

The photos from the days earlier hike to the Sikorsky HRS-2 can be seen at this link http://joeidoni.smugmug.com/Aircraft-Crash-Sites/HRS2/25623620_GC5tRh#!i=2115316082&k=Rg9hQxm

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