The history of the Silver Dart
The original Silver Dart aircraft was the result of considerable effort by the original Aerial Experiment Association. The group was formed in 1907 by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. He also had a great interest in kite aerodynamics and manned flight. The first controlled, powered flight in Canada took place off the ice-covered Baddeck Bay in Nova Scotia, on February 23rd, 1909.
The pilot was a flight pioneer by the name of John Alexander Douglas (J.A.D.) McCurdy. These were definitely the heady early days of aviation in Canada. The Wright Brothers had lifted off in 1903 and the first flight in Europe by a Brazilian, Santos Dumont, was made just a mere 3 years before the Silver Dart’s flight.
The AEA came into being when McCurdy and his friend, Frederick “Casey” Baldwin, two young and very bright graduates from the University of Toronto, decided to spend their summer vacation in Baddeck Nova Scotia, Canada. McCurdy had spent his youth there and his father was the personal secretary of Dr. Bell. One day as the three sat discussing the exciting field of aviation and some of Bell’s aeronautical ideas, Bell’s wife, Mabel, suggested they form an association to exploit their collective ideas. She even agreed to fund the fledgling organisation.
Dr. Bell also invited Glenn H. Curtiss, to participate in the venture. As an American motorcycle designer and manufacturer, he had acquired considerable experience with light-weight gasoline engines. The United States government took interest in some of the AEA’s ideas and proposed that it should have an observer participate in the plans and discussions. Thus, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge joined the group.
With no shortage of ideas, the group built three prototypes in sequence, each building on the experience of its predecessor. These were the Red Wing, the White Wing and the June Bug. The June Bug with Glenn Curtiss at the controls broke several aviation records and won the Scientific American award for the first official one-kilometre flight in the United States of America.
The AEA’s fourth effort was the Silver Dart, designed and piloted by McCurdy. It was first test-flown in Hammondsport, NY, in late 1908 and was then shipped to Dr. Bell’s summer home in Baddeck.
On February 23rd, 1909 it made history with McCurdy at the controls when it became the first controllable powered aircraft to fly in Canada - and the possibly the British Empire. About two weeks later on March 10th 1909, McCurdy flew the aircraft on an astounding 20-kilometer circular flight around Baddeck Bay.
The Silver Dart was made principally of bamboo, ash, spruce, metal tubing, and wire cable. The wings were covered with silver-coloured, rubberized balloon cloth - hence the name Silver Dart!
Its engine was a rather cantankerous V-8 water-cooled engine that at its best probably put out no more than 35 or 40 horsepower at 1,600 rpm. It spun a 2.43 m-diameter (8’) propeller. As did some previous aircraft of the day, the Silver Dart had its two-plane elevator mounted on the front - Canard style. It was 3.65 m (12’) wide and made the aircraft very sensitive around its pitch axis.
The Silver Dart made about 30 flights in the Baddeck area before the AEA proposed a demonstration to the Canadian Army. The Army was not all that enthusiastic but did invite the AEA to Petawawa, ON. The sandy and hilly take-off and landing areas made getting off the ground very difficult. On their 5th demo flight - with Casey Baldwin on board as a passenger - McCurdy struck a rise in the ground and crash-landed.
That was the end of the Silver Dart’s career.
Only four pieces of the original aircraft remain - the fuel tank and radiator in the Bell Museum in Baddeck, and the engine and propeller in the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.
SILVER DART SPECIFICATIONS
First Flight in Canada - Feb 23rd, 1909
Total flights - 50
Wing Span- - 49 ft., 1 inch (15 m)
Length - 39 ft., 4 in. (12 m)
Height - 9 ft., 7 in. (2.9 m)
Empty weight – 610 lbs. (277 kg)
Gross weight-- 860 lbs. (360 kg)
Take off speed - 38 mph (61 km/h)
Cruise speed - 43 mph (69 km/h)
Rate of climb- - ?
Ceiling - 70 feet
There are currently six other replicas of the Silver Dart The first two were built in 1958 by the Royal Canadian Air Force .One was a non-flyable replica and was on display at Expo ‘67 in Montréal, QC... The other craft had a Continental engine installed and flew many times near Trenton, ON, and at Baddeck, NS. It crashed in high winds on Baddeck Bay trying to recreate the 50th anniversary flight (Feb 23rd, 1959). The aircraft was restored and is now on display at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa. The non-flyable replica is now located at the Glenn H. Curtiss museum in Hammondsport New York. It is not on public display since it is in rather poor condition.
A second pair of replicas was built in the mid 1980s by Baddeck native Gordon McCrae. One of these replicas is on display at the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum near Halifax ,NS. The other spent some years in Hendon, England before coming back to Canada. It is now displayed in the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame Museum in Wetaskawin Alberta.
The fifth and newest replica was built by the Calgary Aviation Museum in 2003 and is on display there.
A sixth replica is located at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Museum in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. We (the AEA 2005) have just learned of this replica and are trying to find out more about its origin and background.