This former Belgian Air Force AT-6C Harvard IIA with serial H-43 was taken out of service in 1958 and publicly sold by the “Domeinen” in Wevelgem on September 17, 1958 to Cogea Nouvelle. On January 25, 1962, the company registered the aircraft in the Belgian civil register as OO-GDM (CofA 1398). That same year, the Harvard was transferred by ship via Portugal to Louanda in Angola from where it was eventually flown to Kolwezi. After being armed and camouflaged it was given the Avikat registration KA-25 and the pet name “Penny”. The aircraft was normally flown by Polish pilot Lanowski who was also pilot on one of the two former Portuguese Air Force Vampires of the Avikat. Harvard KA-25 was damaged during an air battle with a UN Saab J-29 Tunnan (Swedish Air Force) and had to make a precautionary landing at the now disappeared airport of Kamatanda/Jadotstad (now Likasi). Fortunately, the pilot for this assignment, Stephan Wotjcik, escaped unscathed. This T-6 was left behind in Kamatanda during the retreat of the Katangese troops on January 3, 1963. The Swedish blue helmets made the aircraft ready to fly again in 1963 and performed a few flights with it locally. It was officially handed over to the Force Aérienne Congolaise (FAC) on February 14, 1964, but they never put it into service. The wreck could still be found in Kamatanda until at least the late 1970s.

Ex-Belgian Air Force AT-6C Harvard IIA H-18 had already been taken out of service in 1956 and stored in the “Vliegtuigenpark” at Wevelgem. It was publicly sold in Wevelgem on September 17, 1958 and registered by COGEA Nouvelle on October 11, 1958 with civil registration OO-GEQ (CofA 1226). In January 1962, an initially unsuccessful attempt was made to transfer the Harvards to Katanga via Geneva (Switzerland). OO-GEQ returned to Belgium on February 3, 1962, but pilot Eugene Burton got lost in the fog during this ferry flight and had to land his aircraft in Westkapelle (Netherlands), causing minor damage. Later, this Harvard was transferred via Portugal to Louanda in Angola with the Portuguese freighter “Sao Silverio”, from where it was eventually flown to Kolwezie. Once in Katanga in September 1962, it was assigned the Avikat serial KA-26 and survived months of heavy operations. In January 1963, KA-26, together with three other Harvards, but now with the registration “K-1”, was able to flee to neighboring Vila Luso (now Luena) in Angola. Because this airfield was just a little too close to Congo, three Harvards (KA-32 was in too poor condition and was left behind in Vila Luso) were later flown to the military base AB.3 Negage northeast of Louanda. According to Portuguese witnesses, the engines of these three aircraft were tested on a regular basis until 1967. Ultimately, KA-26 and the two other machines were scrapped on site in the 1970s. The three T-6s were last sighted in Negage in 1972.

This ex-Belgian Air Force AT-6C Harvard IIA with registration H-36 was stricken off charge in 1958 and sold as Lot L27 by the services of the Domains in Wevelgem on September 17, 1958. At COGEA Nouvelle the Harvard OO-GES (CofA 1228) was acquired on October 11, 1958 and also went to Kolwezi via Louanda in Angola in 1962. Registered with the Avikat as KA-27, this aircraft survived several months of dangerous operations and fled in January 1963 as “K-2” to Vila Luso and later AB.3 Negage where it was scrapped in the late 1970s.

On April 9, 1956, the AT-6C Harvard IIA H-26 was taken out of service by the Air Force and placed in storage in Wevelgem. After being deregistered in 1958, the aircraft also passed into the hands of Cogea Nouvelle during the public sale of Wevelgem on September 17, 1958. On October 11, 1958, the aircraft was registered as OO-GEN (CofA 1223) and then shipped via the usual route. to the Avikat at Kolwezi as KA-28 in September 1962. During the fighting around Jadotstad (now Likasi) the aircraft was destroyed and the wreckage left at Kamatanda airfield.

AT-6C Harvard IIA H-42 was withdrawn from service by the LuM on August 2, 1956, publicly sold on September 17, 1958 and registered by Cogea Nouvelle as OO-GDL (CofA 1697). Shipped via Louanda to Kolwezi was this Harvard KA-29 from the Avikat. The T-6 was destroyed on the ground at Kolwezi-Kengere on December 29, 1962 by an attack by UNO Saab J-29 Tunnan (Swedish Air Force) fighter jets.

Former Air Force Harvard IIA H-31 was withdrawn from service on June 23, 1956, then sold in Wevelgem on September 17, 1958 to Cogea Nouvelle and registered as OO-GER (CofA 1227). After being transferred to Kolwezi by the usual route in September 1962, the aircraft was registered with the Avikat as KA-30 with the pet name “Babette” (after Elisabeth, the name of the girlfriend of the Belgian pilot Jacky Demoulin). Demoulin was so tall that he always flew with an open cockpit canopy. This aircraft suffered the same fate as the above-mentioned KA-29 and was destroyed in Kolwezi on December 29, 1962 by an attack by the UNO Saab J-29 Tunnans.

Belgian Air Force AT-16ND/Harvard IIB H-67 was taken out of service on December 31, 1956 and sold by the “Domains” to the Cogea Nouvelle on September 16, 1958 in Wevelgem. Registered in the civil register as OO-GDP (CofA 1401), this aircraft also went to Kolwezi in September 1962. After being armed and camouflaged, the aircraft became KA-31 of the Avikat. This Harvard also fell prey to the UN attack on Kolwezi-Kengere on December 29, 1962 by Saab J-29 Tunnans.

H-52 was also of the type AT-16ND/Harvard IIB which was taken out of service by the Belgian Air Force on February 9, 1957. Publicly sold to the Cogea Nouvelle in Wevelgem on September 16, 1958 as Lot number L32, the aircraft remained until February. 1962 at Wevelgem airport, after which the company registered it as OO-GDO (CofA 1400). In June of that year the Harvard was shipped to Kolwezi and given the Avikat number KA-32. This machine survived three months of intense fighting and was able to escape from Jadotstad/Kamatanda to Vila Luso in Angola on January 3, 1963. However, the Harvard was in such poor condition and without engine plating that it was scrapped on site.

After its service at the Fighter Flight School in Brustem, the AT-6C Harvard IIA H-28 was stored in the Wevelgem Aircraft Park on July 24, 1956. After being sold as Lot L13 during the public sale of Wevelgem in 1958, it was given to Cogea by its new owners. New registration OO-GEO (CofA 1224) on October 11, 1958. Once arrived in Kolwezi, this Harvard was registered as KA-33 of the Avikat. At the end of the Katangese operations, this machine was flown in extremis together with KA-26, KA-27 and KA-32 to Vila Luso in Angola. In the meantime it had been painted with the serial “K-3”. Together with “K-1” and “K-2”, this veteran was flown to the military base AB.3 Negage where it was scrapped in the 1970s.

Like the other future Avikat Harvards, the former Belgian Air Force Harvard II H-48 was placed in storage in Wevelgem on January 20, 1955, deregistered and publicly sold in Wevelgem (lot number L31) on September 18, 1958. Once owned by Cogea Nouvelle, it was given the Belgian civil registration OO-GDN (CofA 1399). In August/September it went to Katanga via the well-known route Antwerp-Lisbon-Louanda-Kolwezi. Once camouflaged and armed, the Harvard was integrated into the Avikat as the KA-34. Although this has not been confirmed, it can be assumed that this aircraft was not ready to fly at Kamatanda airfield (Jadotstad) and was set on fire by the retreating Katangese troops in January 1963.