Canadian Warplanes 2: Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) Silver Dart, June Bug and Baddeck

Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) Silver Dart, June Bug and Baddeck

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3194128)

Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) Silver Dart flown by John A.D. McCurdy at Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, on 23 February 1909. This qualified as the first flight by a British subject in the British Empire. The Silver Dart, or Aerodrome # 4, was designed by J.A.D. McCurdy. It used Glenn’s very first water cooled engine, and most of the work was done by Glenn and J.A.D. McCurdy. It first flew at Stony Brook Farm in Hammondsport on 6 December 1908. Later, it was shipped to Nova Scotia, Canada. The Silver Dart is show here when it flew for the first time in Canada on 23 February 1909, with Douglas McCurdy at the controls. This was the first flight of a heavier-than-air-machine in Canadian history.

On 7 Oct 1909, Dolena “Dolly” Florence MacKay MacLeod climbed aboard the Baddeck 2, an aircraft piloted by Casey Baldwin, and took off from what was known as the Bentinck farm. This farm had been leased by Alexander Graham Bell’s team for $10, because they found it was the best farmland available from which to fly using their experimental aircraft on wheels to perform test flights. A Cape Breton Island woman, Dolena was born in 1886 and died in 1969. He passenger flight made her the first woman to fly in an airplane in all of the British Empire. One reason it may not have been widely reported at the time was because Bell had forbidden any passengers being carried on his test aircraft after a fatal crash involving Orvillle Wright in Florida a year earlier. The no-passenger edict was known as Bell’s law or Bell’s rule. MacLeod would have been the third woman in the world to fly.

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(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3922995)

Stamp, Silver Dart, 1909-2009, Bras d'Or Lake, Baddeck, Nova Scotia, issued on 23 February 2009.

23 Feb 1909. J.A.D. McCurdy made the first successful aeroplane flight in Canada, piloting the Silver Dart for a distance of 3/4 of a kilometre over the ice-covered surface of Baddeck Bay in Nova Scotia. The next day he flew for more than 7 km in a complete circle back to his starting point. Both flights were recognized by the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom as the first successful powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flights by a British subject anywhere in the British Empire.

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy MBE, was born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, on 2 August 1886. He was a Canadian aviation pioneer and the 20^thLieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952. In 1907, he joined Alexander Graham Bell's Aerial Experiment Association. In 1908, McCurdy helped another AEA member, Glenn Curtiss, to set up the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In 1910, he was the first Canadian to be issued a pilot's license and the following year, he made the first flight from Florida to Cuba. For the next few years, he continued to set aviation records in Canada and North America, until 1916, when vision problems grounded him.

In 1915, McCurdy established the first aviation school in Canada, the Curtiss Flying School, operating from 1915 to 1919, and was the first manager of Long Branch Aerodrome, Canada's first airport. He was also instrumental in setting up Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd., an aircraft manufacturing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that built aircraft for the Royal Flying Corps duringthe First World War. Formed on 15 December 1916, when the Imperial Munitions Board bought the Curtiss (Canada) aircraft operation in Toronto (opened in 1916 as Toronto Curtiss Aeroplanes), Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd. manufactured the JN-4 (Can) Canuck, the Felixstowe F5L flying boat, and the Avro 504.

In 1928, McCurdy created the Reid Aircraft Company in Montreal and became its first president. After a merger, he remained at the helm of the Curtiss-Reid Aircraft Company, a position he held until the advent of war. The most notable product of the company was the Curtiss-Reid Rambler biplane.

McCurdy married Margaret Ball of Woodstock, Ontario, daughter of Margaret and Robert N. Ball, Queens Counsel for Sullivan County, Ontario. At the beginning of the Second World War, McCurdy became Assistant Director General of Aircraft Production. He remained in that position until 1947.

In 1947, McCurdy was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, a post he continued until 1952. He was awarded the McKee Trophy in 1959 on the 50^thanniversary of the flight of the Silver Dart. He attended official ceremonies and sat in the replica Silver Dart built for the occasion. He was also named an honorary air commodore at the time. After a lengthy illness, McCurdy died on 25 June 1961 in Montreal, Quebec, and was buried the following month in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, where a family home had been maintained.

The McCurdy Award at McGill University in Montreal was introduced in 1954 by the Institute of Aircraft Technicians. The award commemorates the contributions made by John A.D. McCurdy during the development of the aviation industry in North America. Following its creation in 1973, McCurdy was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. On 27 Jul 2009 Sydney Airport was renamed J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport in his honour. In 2012, he was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame. (Green, H. Gordon. The SilverDart: The Authentic Story of the Hon. J.A.D. McCurdy, Canada's First Pilot. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1959). (Wikipedia)

(DND Archives Photo, PL-113635)

The Silver Dart being prepared for a flight at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, February 1909.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3628602)

Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, c1914-1919.

The Silver Dart was the 4th production aeroplane of the Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia in Sep 1907 under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and his associates, Canadian Engineers J.A.D. McCurdy and R.W. Baldwin, American motorcycle racer and engine maker Glen Curtiss, and US Army Lt Thomas Selfridge.

The Silver Dart (or Aerodrome #4) was a derivative of an early aircraft built by a Canadian/American team, which after many successful flights at Hammondsport, New York, earlier in 1908, was dismantled and shipped to Baddeck, Nova Scotia. It was flown from the ice of Baddeck Bay, a sub-basin of Bras d'Or Lake, on 23 February 1909, making it the first controlled powered flight in Canada. The aircraft was piloted by one of its designers, John McCurdy.

(Library of Congress Science Photo Library, H400/0022)

Members of the Aerial Experiment Association in 1907, (left to right): J.A.D. McCurdy, Lt. Thomas Selfridge, Alexander Graham Bell, Frederick 'Casey' Baldwin, Glenn H. Curtiss.

The Red Wing, or Aerodrome #1, was designed by Lt. Thomas Selfridge and built in 1908. The plane was outfitted with a Curtiss 40-horsepower, 175 pound, air-cooled V8 engine. It was named the Red Wing for the bright red color of its silk wings. On 12 March 1908, Casey Baldwin flew the aircraft off frozen Keuka Lake. This was the first public demonstration of a powered aircraft flight in the US as well as the first flight by a Canadian pilot. Unfortunately, the tail fell off 20 seconds after takeoff, leading the plane to crash. It was beyond repair, so they started building a new plane.

The White Wing, or Aerodrome #2, was designed by Baldwin and built in 1908. This was the first plane the AEA equipped with ailerons, which allowed the pilot to better control the direction the plane would fly. The plane was first piloted by Baldwin on 18 May 1908, and then flown by Lt. Thomas Selfridge, who became the first Army officer to fly an aircraft. Curtiss then flew the plane on 21 May 1908. Two days later, John McCurdy and the plane crashed during a landing and was damaged beyond repair.

(Library of Congress Photo, ggbain.02334)

Silver Dart - Aeroplane at Hammondsport, Oct 1908.

From 1891, Bell had begun experiments at Baddeck and Hammondsport to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. By 1908, the success of the AEA was seen in a series of ground-breaking designs, culminating in the Silver Dart. By the time the Silver Dart was constructed in late 1908, it was the Aerial Experiment Association's fourth flying machine. One of its precursors, the June Bug, had already broken records. It won the Scientific American Trophy for making the first official one mile (1609 m) flight in North America.

The frame and structure of the Silver Dart were made of steel tube, bamboo, friction tape, wire and wood. The wings were covered with rubberized, silvery balloon cloth provided by Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin of Hammondsport; hence the name the "Silver Dart". Its Kirkham engine, supplied by Glenn Curtiss, was a reliable V-8 that developed 50 horsepower (37 kW) at 1,000 rpm. The propeller was carved from a solid block of wood. The aircraft had what is now called a canard or an "elevator in front" design. Like most aircraft of its day the Silver Dart had poor control characteristics; likewise, it had no brakes.

(City of Toronto Archives Photo)

J.A. Douglas McCurdy at the controls of one of his early aircraft in 1911.

(DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Photo)

Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) Silver Dart flown by John A.D. McCurdy at Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, on 2 Mar 1909.

When the Silver Dart lifted off on 23 February 1909, it flew only half a mile (800 m) at an elevation from three to nine meters, and a speed of roughly 65 kilometres per hour (40 mph). The aircraft was the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to fly in Canada. Other records were soon to fall; on 10 March 1909, the Silver Dart flown again by McCurdy completed a circular course over a distance of more than 35 kilometres (22 mi). The first passenger flight in Canada was made in the Silver Dart on 2 August 1909.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3194129)

AEA Silver Dart being towed by hand.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3650308)

AEA Silver Dart at Camp Petawawa, Ontario, during the demonstration flights made before officials of the Department of Militia and Defence on 2 Aug 1909.

(Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site Photo)

Aerial ExperimentalAssociation Silver Dart with J.A.D. McCurdy at the controls, on Bras d’Or Lake near Baddeck, as skaters position him for take-off 23 Feb 1909.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3650309)

AEA Silver Dart propeller & engine detail, ca 1909.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN 3650305)

AEA June Bug, John A.D. McCurdy.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4732064)

Canadian Aerodrome Baddeck No. 1 with Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin and John McCurdy, preparing for military trials at Camp Petawawa, Ontario. Its first demonstration flight was made on 11 Aug 1909.

During the annual militia training camp held at Camp Petawawa, Ontario, McCurdy made four demonstration flights with the Silver Dart in an attempt to interest the Department of Militia and Defence in the aeroplane as a weapon of war. On the last flight of the day, the machine was wrecked in a heavy landing and a second machine, Baddeck No. 1, crashed a few days later. Official witnesses were not impressed.

The Canadian Army was unimpressed at the headway made by the group. The general impression of the time was that aircraft would never amount to much in actual warfare. Despite official scepticism, the Association was finally invited to the military base at Camp Petawawa, Ontario, to demonstrate the aircraft. The sandy terrain made a poor runway for an aircraft with landing wheels about 2 inches (50 mm) wide. The Silver Dart had great difficulty taking off. On its fifth flight on 2 August 1909, McCurdy wrecked the craft when one wheel struck a rise in the ground while landing. The Silver Dart never flew again.

Although a significant aircraft in Canada, the location of the initial design and construction of the Silver Dart made it an American design. Following the disbanding of the AEA, founding members, McCurdy and F.W. "Casey" Baldwin obtained the Canadian patent rights for Aerodrome No. 4 (The Silver Dart), for the express purpose of producing a Canadian-made version. Subsequently, the Baddeck No. 1 and Baddeck No. 2 were built by the Canadian Aerodrome Company, the newly formed company that Baldwin and McCurdy established in 1909. (Green, H. Gordon. The Silver Dart: The Authentic Story of the Hon. J.A.D. McCurdy, Canada's First Pilot. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1959)