Volume 43 March 2009 Number 6

http://www.cahs.ca/chapters/toronto.

Canadian Aviation Historical Society This meeting is jointly sponsored by CAHS Toronto Chapter Meeting Toronto Chapter and the Toronto Aerospace March 14, 2009 Museum- All CAHS / TAM members, guests Meeting starts at 1 PM and the public (museum admission payable) are -Under the Glider- welcome to attend. Toronto Aerospace Museum, 65 Carl Hall Refreshments will be served Road, Toronto “Landing Fee” of $2.00 will be charged to cover meeting expenses Next Month’s Meeting April 18, 2009

Last Month’s Meeting ...... 2

AEA 2005 Silver Dart Replica Photo Page ...... 11

This Month: “Canadian Lancaster Production in WWII” Frank Harvey, President of the Aeroheritage Foundation of Canada Credit: pilotfriend.com

1 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 Mrs. Jane Nokes of Scotiabank Presenting Paul Cabot with Finley Painting. Credit: Neil McGavock

Last Month’s Meeting Several floors at Scotia Plaza are dedicated to the February Meeting Archives and Fine Arts Department. It is open to the public and all are welcome to visit. Topic: The Silver Dart The valuable painting is one of four by Mr. Main Speaker: Carl Mills Finley in the bank’s collection. He painted it for Reporter: Gord McNulty the bank’s 1964 calendar. It was the second in a series celebrating Canada’s Centennial in 1967. The Toronto Chapter of the CAHS celebrated Images of the calendar were discovered by Silver a century of powered flight in Canada with a Dart historian Jack Minor several years ago, and fascinating three-part program that attracted a were passed along to Carl Mills, our guest strong turnout. It was a timely meeting, just two speaker, for his ‘100th anniversary of flight’ days before formal ceremonies honouring the power point presentations this year. Mr. Finley’s 100th anniversary of the Silver Dart’s first painting emphasizes the surroundings of Bras powered flight on 23 February, 1909, at d’Or Lake and displays the entire Silver Dart as Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Proceedings began with people would have seen the aircraft. Paul Cabot the presentation of a beautiful oil painting lauded Carl for his hard work in making the depicting the historic flight by J.A.D. McCurdy. arrangements. Paul said events such as this are The painting, by artist Fred Finley, was important in increasing public awareness of the generously donated on loan to the newly renamed museum and its collection of aircraft and Canadian Air and Space Museum (formerly the artwork. Toronto Aerospace Museum) by Scotiabank. Jane Nokes, Director of Scotiabank’s Group Carl outlined Fred Finley’s biography. Mr. Archives and Fine Arts Department, presented Finley was born in New Castle, New South the painting to Paul Cabot, museum Curator. The Wales, Australia, on 4 June 1896. He studied art original artwork had been in the custody of in Sydney before joining the Australian Forces Scotiabank since Mr. Finley created it in 1963. during the First World War, where he served in

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 2 France from mid-1914 for four years. He was promoted to Sergeant in February, 1917, was wounded in April 1917, and returned to duty soon after. He served in administration as well as pioneer and infantry units. In September, 1918, he was selected for pilot training with the Royal Air Force. However, this was cancelled as the war ended. He returned to Australia in June 1919. Mr. Finley began an art-study tour of Europe, studying at various art centres such as the Academie Julien in Paris and the Bavarian Academy in Munich. He came to Toronto and became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and the Ontario Society of Artists. He held positions on the executive of these organizations and was also Director of Advertising at the Ontario College of Art. Mr. Finley constantly encouraged younger artists. He exhibited in Australia, Paris, the United States and Canada. He died in Toronto at age 73, on 14 May, 1968. He was survived by his wife and two children.

*** Sarah Dempsey A special presentation was then made by Credit: Neil McGavock playwright Sandra Dempsey, of Toronto, (www.SandraDempsey.com) author of “Flying to *** Glory,” which she proudly described as the first Chapter President Howard Malone and only play written about the RCAF in World introduced Carl Mills, well-known CAHS War II. Sandra read a lively excerpt depicting a stalwart. Originally from London, Carl is a short scene at an Elementary Flying Training graduate of the University of Waterloo (1965) in School at High River, Alberta in 1942. She electrical engineering. He served for 24 years in vividly portrayed an amusing conversation the Air Force Auxiliary, starting in London as an between the main character Jimmy, and his best airman and retiring in 1983 as a Lieutenant- pal, Gus. Sandra sold copies of her book and Colonel - engineering officer. He was a member generously donated 40 per cent of the proceeds of 420, 2420 and 400 Squadrons and was of every sale to the museum. involved in deployments to the Arctic and several search and rescue missions. He was later project manager of an RCN Banshee jet fighter, in Toronto, which is now at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa. In 1991, he published a book on the history of the Banshee in the RCN. Carl has also researched and presented on the

3 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 Canadian Lancaster X Passenger Planes, de should be capable of powered flight and that Havilland Beaver operations in the Korean War, properly designed flying machines could be and Canadian airmen and airwomen in the flown as kites. As kite after kite was flown from Korean War. His current project in “retirement” his home at Baddeck, the tetrahedral design in Toronto involves the fundraising, interior emerged in 1901. Bell used smaller tetrahedral design and construction of a cabinet-type display cells as building blocks to develop larger kites. about the Korean War for the RCAF Memorial The 1,300-cell “Frost King” of 1905 could carry Museum in Trenton. In his civilian career, Carl a man aloft and Bell concluded it could also was the contract manager for the first set of carry an engine. Bell was a colleague of aviation VASIS lights installed in Ontario, at Toronto pioneers Octave Chanut and Dr. Samuel Langley. Island Airport. He was the senior electrical He adopted Langley’s term of “aerodrome” designer on the Air Canada hangar, at Pearson, instead of “aeroplane.” In addition to kites, Bell and was also involved in the design and researched propellers and aerial propulsion on construction of the Ontario mega-prisons. He floats. has about 500 hours of Cessna 172 time and Bell realized he would need engineering several flights in Canadian military aircraft. In technical assistance. In the summer of 1906 2008, Carl was awarded a Ministry of Veterans J.A.D. McCurdy returned home to Baddeck, a Affairs commendation for his historical research. year before completing his engineering degree at Carl’s impressive ‘Silver Dart Chronicles’ the University of Toronto. He brought his power point presentation has already been seen classmate, F.W. ‘Casey’ Baldwin, who had by CAHS Chapters in Ottawa and Montreal, and graduated in 1906 from U of T. McCurdy’s at Montebello, home of an annual Ski-Plane Fly- father had been Bell’s secretary, assistant and In for owners of Quad City Challenger ultra- photographer during the kite era, and McCurdy lights. Shortly after the Toronto Chapter grew up in that environment. Baldwin, who was meeting, Carl left for Baddeck to make the extremely interested in aerodynamics during his official presentation during the national undergraduate years, joined Bell in 1906 and celebrations for the Silver Dart’s history-making worked on kites. McCurdy joined in 1907. In flight. He will be making at least 10 early 1907, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, a presentations on this project, proudly sponsored young U.S. Army officer and aviation enthusiast, by the Toronto Chapter. The presentation approached Bell while he was in Washington, features more than 150 images, mostly taken D.C. Bell was impressed and wrote to President from original photos of the 1907-1910 era, Teddy Roosevelt, requesting that Selfridge be including files from the Glenn Curtiss Museum assigned to observe his aerial experiments. in Hammondsport, New York, and covers the Searching for an engine, Bell learned that Glenn evolution of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell’s H. Curtiss was designing and building motors for fascination with kites, the Aerial Experiment his dirigibles at his motorcycle shop in Association (AEA) and the Canadian Aerodrome Hammondsport, N.Y. Bell ordered an engine and Company (CAC). All of the AEA aircraft, in persuaded Curtiss to join him as the engine fact, were built in Hammondsport, so most of the expert. photos were taken there. It all started with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell’s fascination with flying, and especially kites. He believed a properly constructed kite

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 4 aircraft while Bell pursued his tetrahedral kite designs. The AEA located at Hammondsport, to use Curtiss’s facilities. Bell worked on his kites at Baddeck, travelled occasionally to Hammondsport, and wintered in Washington. At Hammondsport, the foursome built a 75- pound bi-wing glider with a wing span of 25 feet. The hill-launched glider accomplished about 50 flights, giving the foursome some flight experience over a two-month period. They agreed that while each newly designed machine should be supervised by just one associate, all AEA Members L - R Baldwin,Selfridge,Curtiss,Dr. Bell, associates would participate. Selfridge was McCurdy, Augustus Post - Aero Club of America. chosen to supervise the Aerodrome No. 1, a.k.a. Credit: "Canada's Flying Heritage" Drome 1, in recognition for his dunking on the Cygnet. However, he was called away by the Bell’s wife, Mabel, suggested the enthusiasts U.S. Army and then became ill. By the time he form an association. She offered to finance the returned to Hammondsport, Baldwin had group with $20,000 for one year. On 1 October, designed, flown and destroyed the aircraft. It is 1907, the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) unlikely that Selfridge even saw the Drome 1, was formed at Halifax. Bell, 68, was named also called the Red Wing. The decision to go chairman; Baldwin, 24, chief engineer; with bi-wing design was based on the McCurdy, 23, treasurer and assistant engineer; publications of Chanut, Langley, Otto Lilienthal, Selfridge, 26, secretary; and Curtiss, 29, director and others. of experiments. Baldwin and McCurdy were Airborne control was a principal issue among paid $1,000 each; Curtiss was paid $5,000. the many challenges of construction techniques, Selfridge was on army pay and didn’t receive a balance, propulsion, and more. The AEA salary. The first project was Bell’s Cygnet 1, a understood pitch control but lateral or roll 3,400-cell tetrahedral kite with a 42-foot control presented difficulties. Lilienthal and wingspan, weighing 200 pounds. It was towed others had shifted their weight around a glider as by a steamboat on Bras d’Or Lake on 6 a means of control, but that wasn’t powerful December, 1907. Selfridge flew on the kite as an enough to cope with gusts of wind. Later in observer. The kite flew well, carrying Selfridge Europe, aviators dealt with gusts by turning into higher than 160 feet, but it crashed and was the wind. Otherwise, flying was possible only on destroyed due to a mixup with the towboat. calm days and in straight lines. The Wright Selfridge was tangled in the wreckage, but he brothers used wing warping for roll control. Bell wasn’t hurt. The Cygnet 1 was considered a and the AEA rejected wing warping, opting success, but the group wanted a machine similar instead for wingtip ailerons. The Red Wing to those being experimented with elsewhere. relied on a rudder for horizontal control, while an They first built a Chanute-type bi-wing glider on elevator up front provided vertical control. The which to acquire flying experience. This was a placement of the elevator from the wings was significant departure from Bell’s tetrahedrals. important to achieve longitudinal balance. The The four aviators concentrated on bi-wing AEA planned to fly the Red Wing in the winter,

5 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 and mounted it on two steel runners to operate Selfridge witnessed by the Bells. Curtiss then from the ice at Hammondsport. The wings were flew more than a thousand feet, using the covered with red silk, hence it was called the Red ailerons to demonstrate lateral control. McCurdy Wing. flew next, but crashed after about 600 feet. The Baldwin first flew the Red Wing on 12 resulting somersault destroyed the aircraft. It had March, 1908, lifting off the ice at Lake Kueka flown five times. near Hammondsport. He flew about 300 feet. It Drome 3, the June Bug, supervised by wasn’t much of a flight by today’s standards, but Curtiss, closely resembled the previous two AEA it was sensational 100 years ago. Baldwin aircraft. Bell named the aircraft, suggesting that became the first Canadian to fly. During his the yellow ochre paint in the doped fabric of the second flight, a few days later, the aircraft wings resembled June Bug insects, abundant at crashed and was destroyed in a mishap attributed the time of the year. The wing span was about to a lack of lateral stability. Baldwin and Bell the same at 42 feet; however, the overall wing liked the idea of movable surfaces at the area was about 10 per cent less. Changes, in part, wingtips, operated by the instinctive movement included a longer and stronger tricycle gear, of the pilot through a shoulder yoke. This removal of nosewheel cover, mounting of a concept was similar to that used by the Wright switch and sparkplug control on the steering brothers as early as 1903. Baldwin and Bell wheel, a larger elevator to improve longitudinal concluded that wingtip ailerons, hinged along the control, a square --- instead of triangular --- leading edge and operated differentially, would rudder, and positioning of the ailerons was provide lateral control and could be used in turns. changed to zero incidence instead of wing Other aviation pioneers also used ailerons, first incidence to improve control. Curtiss first flew on gliders then on powered aircraft. However, the June Bug on 21 June 1908. On 4 July, 1908, the AEA was undoubtedly the most advanced he won the Scientific American Trophy for the and successful user of ailerons in the 1908-1909 first official flight of one kilometre in a straight era. line. It was the first official test flight of an Drome 2, the White Wing, was supervised by airplane in the U.S. The Wrights had been Baldwin, using a configuration similar to that of invited to participate in the competition, but the Red Wing. It was named for the white cotton declined. Curtiss’s victory stirred their wrath, wing covering used after the supply of red silk and within weeks, Orville Wright wrote a letter ran out. The construction was heavier, and to Curtiss outlining the patent infringement of hinged wingtip ailerons added lateral control. their wing warping method and initiating a The elevator was enlarged and controlled by the lengthy litigation. Curtiss eventually lost the movement of the steering wheel, and the rudder lawsuit. was controlled by rotating the steering wheel. Drome 4, the Silver Dart, supervised by The aircraft was fitted with tricycle landing gear, McCurdy, introduced more changes. The silver- using pneumatic tires, with a single steerable coloured finish of the rubberized balloon fabric wheel in the front and two fixed wheels in the covering the wings prompted the name. It was back. The same air-cooled engine on the Red longer and heavier, with a bi-wing elevator and Wing was used on the White Wing. In May, a single vertical rudder. The structure of the 1908, Selfridge made a few attempts but failed to wings was improved, and the centre section was fly. Baldwin then flew it about 300 feet, built as a single unit. Workmanship was followed a few days later by two flights by improved, and all controls were strengthened.

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 6 The ailerons were larger and the rudder was rectangular instead of square. The new 50 hp Curtiss V-8 engine was water-cooled. In early August, 1908, Selfridge was recalled by the U.S. Army to Fort Myers, Virginia, to evaluate the capability of the Wright Military Flyer to fly with a passenger. Selfridge volunteered for this and flew with Orville Wright on 17 September, 1908. The aircraft broke up in flight and fell 75 feet, Cygnet II with McCurdy. severely injuring both men. Selfridge died that Credit: June Sturgis night. It was a harsh, tragic reminder of the exceptional risks that pioneer pilots took. The The engine was then installed in the Silver crash was caused by the failure of a propeller tip Dart. On 23 February, 1909, McCurdy rose from which in turn severed a guy-wire to the tail. the ice at Bras d’Or Lake after travelling about Orville was confined to bed with a concussion, 100 feet. He flew at a height of from 10 to 30 broken ribs and pelvis. Meanwhile, AEA feet for about a half-mile and a speed of 40 mph members were inspecting the wreckage. Bell --- powered, heavier-than-air controlled flight immediately abandoned McCurdy’s proposal to had arrived in Canada. The next day McCurdy use twin propellers on the Silver Dart and made a circuit of 4½ miles around Baddeck Bay. prohibited any passengers on AEA aircraft. Despite continuous engine problems, McCurdy Back in Hammondsport, Curtiss and and Baldwin made numerous flights in the Silver McCurdy continued with the Silver Dart. By Dart. However, the Cygnet never achieved August, they had been making flights of up to takeoff speed. The Silver Dart made its last two miles and three minutes in the June Bug. winter flight on 29 March, 1909. The AEA They mounted floats on the June Bug and disbanded on 31 March, 1909. Bell then renamed it the Loon. It failed to get airborne, employed Baldwin as engineer and McCurdy as however, and eventually sank at the dock. assistant engineer, and suggested they form a McCurdy made his first flight in the Silver Dart, company to pursue design and construction of on 6 December, 1908. He flew it 14 times aeroplanes for sale to the Canadian, British or during December. The Silver Dart was then sent other governments. Bell offered money and the to Baddeck, along with the new water-cooled use of facilities at Baddeck. engine that had been re-conditioned after being In April, 1909, the Canadian Aerodrome used in the Loon. The Silver Dart and the engine Company (CAC) became Canada’s first arrived in early February, 1909. On 22 February, aeroplane company. Funds did not materialize, 1909, McCurdy attempted a flight in the Cygnet however, and the CAC ceased operation in May, II --- a larger version of the Cygnet I kite, 1910. It built three aircraft during its brief equipped with the new engine --- but it skidded existence: the Baddeck No. 1, the Baddeck No. down the ice and failed to lift off. It could have 2, and the Hubbard Monoplane. Although the been the first flight in Canada. same general layout was adopted, many changes were made for the Baddeck aeroplanes. For example, the ribbing was changed, the wings were covered on both top and bottom surfaces, and bamboo was replaced with steel tubing. The

7 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 search for a more reliable engine resulted in an lasted 20 minutes, achieving a speed of 33 mph. in-line six cylinder, 40 hp water-cooled Kirkham Major G.S. Maunsell strongly supported the auto engine. The fuel tank was designed to army’s involvement and in March 1910 he flew match the profile of the wing ribs. The a passenger in the Baddeck No. 2 --- the first Department of Militia and Defence invited serving member of the Canadian military to fly in Baldwin and McCurdy to demonstrate their an aeroplane. Baldwin and McCurdy offered to aircraft at the army base at Petawawa, Ont. In sell the two aircraft to the army for $10,000, and late June, 1909, the Silver Dart, without an to train a few pilots at Baddeck. However, the engine, was shipped to Petawawa. The Baddeck army, under General Sam Hughes, Minister of No. 1, meanwhile, was displayed to Baddeck Militia and Defence, rejected the deal. In early residents and also shipped to Petawawa for the May 1910, the Baldwins and Bells departed on a army trials. The idea was to use the Silver Dart world tour, leaving McCurdy behind to handle as a practice aircraft, then fly the Baddeck No. 1 work in Baddeck and the army issue. Baldwin for the actual demonstrations. However, the effectively ended his flying career. The Baddeck Silver Dart crashed in early August after making No. 2 was equipped with floats for water testing. four flights. McCurdy was flying with Baldwin On 1 June, McCurdy took off from a beach and as a passenger when the front wheel struck the immediately landed in the water. He was soaked top of a ridge, wrecking the aircraft. Neither man but the machine did not overturn and the engine was seriously hurt, but that was the end of the wasn’t flooded. That was the last to be heard of Silver Dart. The press, however, had a field day. the Baddeck 2. Presumably it was dismantled The Baddeck 1, using the Kirkham engine and then disintegrated over the years. McCurdy salvaged from the Silver Dart, also encountered and Baldwin completed 60 flights in the aircraft, problems. On its second flight, it dropped mostly by McCurdy as a pilot with a few with backwards and the tail was damaged. The army Baldwin as a passenger. was not impressed and the flight trials were over. The first aviation meet in Canada took place These were the first flights of a Canadian-made, at Montreal 25 June to 5 July 1910. McCurdy powered aircraft. Back in Baddeck, the aviators entered the Baddeck 1 in the competition for traced the failure of the Baddeck to problems prizes. It was the largest and heaviest machine with the biplane front elevator, which was there. The Wright team were the stars of the cambered, unlike the flat elevator of the Silver show, climbing to more than 3,000 feet and Dart. The elevators were more sensitive than the remaining airborne for 45 minutes. Count Silver Dart, resulting in overcontrolling and a Jacques de Lesseps, who was the second person stall condition. The elevators were also more to fly the English Channel in a Bleriot XI, flew dangerous because there was a critical point of every day of the movement from which a stall could not be nine-day meet and was the first to fly over prevented. Montreal. McCurdy had a dismal time and barely Returning to Baddeck, the CAC built the got airborne. He sold the Kirkham engine to pay Baddeck Aerodrome No. 2 in the late summer of some of his costs and sent the Baddeck 1 back to 1909. It was almost identical to the No. 1, the Baddeck, where it was presumably disposed of. main difference being the location of the ailerons McCurdy had completed five flights in the between the wings. The Kirkham engines were aircraft --- two at Petawawa, three at Montreal. big disappointments, but the CAC made McCurdy visited Curtiss in Atlantic City and numerous flights in the aeroplane. One flight joined him for a year. By then, he had about 130

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 8 flights to his credit in AEA and CAC aircraft. to 60 feet. The aircraft circled around within a McCurdy rejoined Bell and Baldwin in Baddeck radius of three miles and didn’t last long. While when they returned from their world tour in there isn’t any primary documentation or official 1911. recognition of this event, older-generation Gardiner Greene Hubbard II of Boston, a first Baddeck residents are absolutely convinced it cousin of Mrs. Bell, wanted a machine of his happened. own after seeing the Baddeck No. 2 fly in Carl noted that Bell did a magnificent job of September 1909. He felt the monoplane had documenting his work and had a great ability to many advantages over bi-wing aircraft and determine what went wrong with his aeroplanes. commissioned the CAC to build a monoplane. He was always convinced his kites would fly Construction began by Christmas 1909. It used under powered flight, and invested heavily to a new water-cooled Kirkham engine and most of achieve this, but none of his kites ever achieved the construction and control features of the powered flight. By 1912 his flying activities Baddeck aircraft. The aircraft had a 33-foot seemed to end after the Cygnet 3 kite, with a wingspan and was braced from a central mast. It Gnome engine, failed to fly. Tracing the had two wheels and a tail skid, and flat ailerons problems of the CAC, Carl noted that the hinged on the trailing edge of the wingtips. Also Baddeck 1 and 2 were outdated in the 1910 era. referred to as ‘Mike,’ the monoplane was ready The Hubbard Monoplane provided a brief for testing by mid-March 1910. Hubbard, the glimmer of hope, but like other AEA and CAC sole pilot, made nine short flights from the ice of aircraft it was overweight and underpowered. Baddeck Bay. These were the first known The Kirkham engine, meanwhile, wasn’t as monoplane flights in Canada. ‘Mike’ was reliable as the Gnome and other better engines entered in the Montreal Air Meet but it didn’t fly. that were available. Other decisions hindered It was recorded as an entrant in the Harvard success as well. The Wrights’ twin propeller Aviation Meet at Boston in September 1910, but concept offered more thrust over the single there is no evidence that it attended the meet and propeller with the same size engine. But it was it disappeared into history. disallowed by Bell because of theoretical The first Canadian woman to fly is officially structural failures in the Silver Dart, based on listed as Torontonian Grace Mackenzie, with Selfridge’s fatal accident. The army trials at Count de Lesseps in New York, in October 1910. Petawawa were puzzling as well. Carl questioned She flew on the Bleriot XI and they later married. the CAC’s attempt to demonstrate the Silver Dolena MacKay MacLeod, 22, was the first Dart, with the untried Kirkham engine, for the woman to fly in Canada --- at least according to first time, from an unimproved field, and then to local folklore and the staff of the Alexander fly the Baddeck 1 --- again for the first time --- at Graham Bell Museum and historians Deborah this critical military opportunity. Carl suggested Baldwin and Jack Minor. Married with two both aircraft should first have been tested at children, Mrs. MacLeod readily volunteered to Baddeck, and the army required to provide a fly with Casey Baldwin in the Baddeck 2 in smooth, adequate airfield. The CAC had courage September 1909. The flight took place in front and enthusiasm but gambled badly on this of family and friends and was recorded in three valuable opportunity. Even so, one would have different newspaper interviews by Mrs. MacLeod thought the army would have been more curious over the years. She described the noise as about the potential of aeroplanes. After the First terrible, recalling that they reached a height of 50 World War erupted in 1914, McCurdy visited

9 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 Gen. Hughes to promote the advantages of aircraft for the military, but Hughes humiliated McCurdy by abruptly ending the meeting. He called the aeroplane “the invention of the devil” and said it would never play any serious role in defence of Canada. In December 1914 Hughes rejected a proposal by McCurdy and Maunsell to build an aeroplane factory in Canada. Sadly, the lack of preservation of these aircraft showed total disregard for their historic value. The Red Wing and the White Wing were destroyed. Bell donated the June Bug to Curtiss, but it reportedly languished and rotted in a shed near Hammondsport. The Silver Dart was destroyed at Petawawa in 1909. The Baddeck 1 and 2 and the Hubbard met an unknown end. Carl concluded with a short review of the current 12 replicas of the Silver Dart, including the latest aircraft --- the AEA 2005 full-scale replica, C- IIGY. It first flew at Hamilton International Airport on 6 February, 2009, then flew successfully for the national celebrations of the centennial of powered flight in Canada at Baddeck under ideal conditions on 22 February. Poor weather, unfortunately, prevented a re- Speaker Carl Mills with gift of 100th Anniversary of enactment of McCurdy’s flight on the actual Flight Proof Silver Dollar.Credit: Neil McGavock anniversary on 23 February. Carl also displayed images of the known artwork collection relating Carl made an outstanding presentation, to the Silver Dart story. featuring many images that some of us had never seen before. The pictures alone tell a tremendous story of Canadian history --- a story that richly deserves receive widespread publicity across Canada. Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Bob Winson presented Carl with a gift on behalf of the Chapter directors, members and guests who really appreciated his presentation.

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 10 AEA 2005 Silver Dart Replica Photo Page Credits - Gord McNulty

Roll-out of AEA 2005 Silver Dart at Hamilton February 6, 2009

AEA 2005 Silver Dart Replica Taxiing at Hamilton with Astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason at the controls

11 Flypast V. 43 No. 6 By Taxi: Take the TTC Subway to the Downsview Station and take a taxi from there. It will cost around $8 one way, but it is by far the most convenient option for tourists, because the cab will take you right to our front door, whereas the TTC - unfortunately - doesn't! By Car: From the 401 East or West, exit at Keele Street North. Turn right on Sheppard Ave, and follow Sheppard the entrance to Downsview Park. Turn right into the park (onto John Drury Road) until you reach Carl Hall Road. Turn left at Carl Hall and continue east over the railway tracks to the Museum, which is on your right hand side. By TTC: From the Downsview TTC station take the 108 Downsview, the 86 Sheppard West, Westbound or the 84 Sheppard West, Westbound bus and ask the driver to let you off at the Downsview Park entrance (it is well past the DRDC and Idomo buildings). Walk into the park entrance and follow John Drury Road until you reach Carl Hall Road. Turn left at Carl Hall Road and continue east over the railway tracks to the Museum, which is on your right hand side. Approximate walking distance is 0.7 km.

CAHS National Website : www.cahs.ca Meetings and news from all the chapters, journal back issues, and more! Toronto Chapter Meetings - 2nd Saturday of the month 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Toronto Aerospace Museum, 65 Carl Hall Road TAM is in the former deHaviland building in Downsview Park Near Downsview TTC Station All Welcome

Flypast V. 43 No. 6 12