THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVER DART Introduction On February 23, 2009, Canada Others involved themselves in aircraft Focus celebrated 100 years of aviation history. design, manufacture, and testing. Still This News in Review story commemorates On that date in 1909 a biplane (two- others helped develop Canada’s fi rst one of the signifi cant winged aircraft) called the Silver Dart national airline, Trans-Canada Airlines, events in Canadian was towed by horses onto a frozen lake now known as Air Canada. history: the fi rst near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. A young In the 21st century, Canada continues to powered fl ight. During engineer named Douglas McCurdy sat be an important centre for the aerospace the following century, on a plank at the airplane’s primitive industry. One Canadian company, that breakthrough controls. Before a crowd of cheering Bombardier, is currently the third-largest helped to bring Canadians together watchers, McCurdy piloted the plane manufacturer of civilian aircraft in the and to transform this on a short fl ight of slightly more than a world. As well, the aerospace industry country, which has kilometre. Canada had entered the age of has made enormous contributions to the the second-largest powered fl ight, and Canadians embraced exploration of space. One contribution, landmass in the world. it with enthusiasm. the Canadarm, is a prominent part of This story looks at the A country the size of Canada is exactly every space shuttle mission. Several men responsible for the kind of place where powered fl ight Canadian astronauts have played the initial triumph of the Silver Dart, and could fl ourish. In both peace and war, important roles in some of those those who planned Canada has had an illustrious history missions. its commemoration in in the air. Canadian pilots played Thus, it seemed very appropriate when 2009. It also follows central roles in both World Wars, and Aerial Experiment Association 2005, the the story of Canadian pilots and air crews from across the group that built a replica of the Silver fl ight through its fi rst Commonwealth received their training Dart, chose astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason 100 years. here. Flight training for NATO and allied as the pilot for the 100th anniversary forces continues in Canada to this day. fl ight. A man who had fl own on the Further Research Canadian airmen returning from the fastest and most sophisticated fl ying To learn more about First World War drove the peacetime machine ever developed would now pilot Canada’s astronauts, development of the civilian air industry one of the slowest and most primitive. consider a visit to in Canada. Some became the fi rst Because of adverse weather the Canadian Space transporters of airmail. Others became conditions, the anniversary fl ight actually Agency’s offi cial Web site at www.space. the bush pilots who opened services took place a day early, on February gc.ca. to isolated areas of the country. Some 22. Nevertheless, it was an enormous became the surveyors and mappers of success and a glorious reminder of areas of Canada rarely visited before. Canada’s aviation history. Pre-Viewing Activity Have you ever seriously considered what life in Canada would be like without travel by air? Air travel has had an enormous impact on all of us, even if we rarely or never get on a plane. After all, planes carry plenty of things besides people. Take a few minutes before you watch the video and make a list of some of the ways in which your life would be different if airplanes did not exist. There might be favourite foods that you would never get to eat, or activities that wouldn’t take place, or friends or family that you might never get to see. The number of ways in which air travel has an impact on your lifestyle may surprise you. CBC News in Review • April 2009 • Page 43 THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVER DART Video Review As you watch the video, answer the questions in the spaces provided. 1. What famous Canadian airplane was used by bush pilots to open the Canadian interior? ____________________________________________________ 2. Where in Canada is the village of Baddeck located? _____________________ 3. What is the name of the famous inventor who lived in Baddeck? 4. What type of equipment did Bell use for his fi rst aviation experiments? 5. Who fi nanced Alexander Graham Bell’s aviation work and recruited some of his assistants? 6. What name did Bell’s group of developers call themselves? 7. Where were the AEA’s fi rst airplanes built and fl own? 8. What is the reason that Douglas McCurdy believes Bell wanted to fl y one of his airplanes in Baddeck? 9. How long did the fl ight of the Silver Dart last? __________________________ 10. In 1959 a group tried to recreate the fl ight of the Silver Dart. How did the re-creation go? 11. How many attempts did it take in 2009 at Baddeck to get the Silver Dart airborne? _________ 12. What is the name of the Canadian company that is the world’s third-largest manufacturer of civilian aircraft? _______________________________________ 13. A Canadian airplane, not built for over 20 years, is about to make a comeback. What is that plane called? ___________________________________ CBC News in Review • April 2009 • Page 44 THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVER DART History of the Silver Dart Baddeck, Nova Scotia, is a small Canadian to pilot an airplane. Their Further Research community in the heart of Cape Breton second plane, the June Bug, won the A 1949 interview with J.A.D. McCurdy Island. Baddeck is now best known as a second annual Aero Club trophy. is available from resort community, the centre of access For Canadians, however, the Silver the CBC Archives to the beautiful Bras d’Or lakes. It was Dart will always be Bell’s greatest at archives.cbc.ca/ already a well-known resort in 1909 airplane. Bell, born a Scot who later science_technology/ when the lake became the runway for became an American, loved his British aeronautics/clips/2424/. Canada’s fi rst powered aircraft fl ight. roots and his Canadian home in Cape YouTube (www. Baddeck was the Canadian home of Breton. Determined to fl y an aircraft in youtube.com) has clips from the anniversary one of the world’s greatest inventors, British airspace, he shipped the AEA’s fl ight, along with Alexander Graham Bell. Already famous latest creation to Baddeck for its fi rst other associated items as the inventor of the telephone, Bell had fl ight. (search for “Silver become interested in the possibility of That aircraft was the Silver Dart, Dart”). human fl ight. the plane that made the fi rst heavier- Bell’s initial experiments involved than-air fl ight in Canada, on February Quote giant kites. His kite designs were 23, 1909. Piloted by J. A. Douglas “It feels great. I’ve featured in Scientifi c American, then McCurdy (soon to become Canada’s fl own the fastest (as now) a leading popular scientifi c fi rst licensed pilot), the Silver Dart fl ew thing in the world. magazine. Bell continued working on his about 1.2 kilometres, rising nine metres I’ve fl own the slowest kites until 1907. The last one—a huge above the frozen lake. Its speed was 65 thing in the world. I’ve fl own the newest contraption called Cygnet—actually fl ew, kilometres per hour. thing, I’ve fl own the with a passenger, 51 metres above Bras The Silver Dart went on to set oldest thing.” – Bjarni d’Or Lake. It was not self-powered but records and win prizes. On March 10, Tryggvason, Hamilton was pulled behind a steam launch. 1909—less than a month after its fi rst Spectator, February 7, However, the successful fl ight of fl ight—the plane won another trophy 2009 the Wright brothers’ airplane in 1903 as the fi rst plane in North America to changed the way in which inventors fl y a mile (1.6 kilometres). Piloted by looked at human fl ight. The Wright McCurdy, the Silver Dart fl ew not just brothers’ fl ight was unique in that it one mile, but 20 miles (32 kilometres). was powered, controlled, and sustained: It later became the fi rst plane to carry a powered by an engine, controlled by a passenger as well as a pilot. pilot, and sustained for a distance. The Silver Dart was eventually Encouraged—and fi nanced—by his destroyed in an accident, when wife, Mabel, Bell founded the Aerial McCurdy crash-landed after Experiment Association (AEA) in demonstrating the plane to offi cers of October 1907. This brought together the Canadian Army. a group of Canadian and American engineers who would compete for an 100 Years Later annual trophy awarded by the Aero Club In 2005, a group of 25 aviation of America to the inventors of heavier- fans founded the Aerial Experiment than-air fl ying machines. Association 2005. Their objective Working in the United States, the was to build a replica of the Silver AEA was soon successful in its airplane Dart and fl y it at Baddeck on the 100th design. Their fi rst aircraft, the Red Wing, anniversary of the fi rst fl ight: February made its pilot, Casey Baldwin, the fi rst 23, 2009. CBC News in Review • April 2009 • Page 45 The group, based in Welland, Ontario, fl ight that permitted the engineers to Fascinating Facts found six sponsors and raised $35 000 tweak the plane’s performance before The replica’s specifi cations include: to build the plane, as near a replica as the actual centennial fl ight.