Qs and As
Questions, questions and more questions about the future of the Welland Silver Dart replica. Answers coming soon.
Where has the Silver Dart been since it successfully made the celebration flight of the century for Canadians and Commonwealth nations on Sunday, Feb. 12th in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada?
Where will it go next? When will it be readied for permanent museum status? And where will that be? These are but a few of the many questions the executive of the AEA 2005 Inc. committee have been getting lately as September rolls on and the Canadian centennial year of powered flight celebrations comes to a close in less than four months – on Dec. 31, 2009.
To date, the Silver Dart replica support teams have travelled many thousands of miles across much of Canada to bring the Silver Dart replica to a wide range of airports and Canadian Armed Forces bases, and other display opportunities, mostly for static displays, after the intended flight of February 23rd had become a well-done and well-publicized deed.
Later this month in another October web site update we’ll briefly review with a series of photographs when and where C-IIGY has been on display throughout the summer of this Canadian aviation centennial year and where it will be between October and December 31, this year, the final day of a year-full of celebrations of powered flight in Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Welland Silver Dart replica is a hit in its own home town of Welland
While the AEA 2005 Inc. team members who built the now-famous Silver Dart replica, C-IIGY, in its home town, inside a home garage on Harold Street, owned by Gilles Lévesque, and assembled in donated hangar space at the Russell Aviation Group hangar at the Niagara Falls South airport … and while it received wide-spread media support from Niagara Peninsula newspapers … and elsewhere around the world, it had yet to be seen locally on any kind of display … until recently, that is, at the successful day-long Welland Airport annual air show hosted by Bruce MacRitchie.
Photo: AEA 2005 Inc.
Jack Minor’s half-scale Silver Dart replica wows ‘em at Marshville festival in Wainfleet
These three un-identified fair ladies casually wandered over to the half-scale Silver Dart replica which Jack Minor, Port Colborne uses on a regular basis for presentations to students on Canadian aviation pioneers. Only this time, he had his half-scale replica and supporting static display boards telling the story of the original Silver Dart at the centennial celebrations honouring the Marshville community of a 100 years ago in Wainfleet early in September – a weekend activity which drew thousands to the event and about as many to see the half-scale replica, reports Jack.
Photo – Jack Minor
C-IIGY keeps great company with Avro Arrow replica
C-IIGY, the Welland-built Silver Dart replica knows how to keep good company – with Canada’s second other most favourite replica, that of the Avro Arrow, early in July, when the Silver Dart replica support team took it to the Canadian Air and Space Museum at Downsview Airport near Toronto, ON – one of many places where the Silver Dart replica has been seen since it first flew in Hamilton, ON, early in February this year. In this photo, C-IIGY, seemingly dwarfed by the Avro Arrow nose, in the left foreground, is in the left background of the museum.
Photo – AEA 2005 Inc.
AEA 2005 Inc. recorded incredibly successful year
On Friday, Sept. 18, 11 members from the AEA 205 Inc. group met at 37 Harold Street, Welland, ON. They met in a home garage. But this was no ordinary garage. It was in this very garage – owned by AEA member Gilles Levesque, at left in this photo – that they built the Silver Dart replica. This time they met for their annual general meeting to hear President Doug Jermyn give a glowing report on the success of the group in building … assembling … flying … and displaying the replica – C-IIGY - across much of Canada since February, 2009. In this photo, from left are: Gilles Lévesque; Bill McCraw, Niagara Falls; Michel Dupuis, Grimsby; Norm Sonenburg, Port Colborne; Doug Jermyn, Welland; Ron Zwarych, Fonthill; Ray Larson, Fonthill; Dave Gladman, Smithville; Sandy McCallion, St. Catharines, Jaro Petruck, Welland and John Smyth, St. Catharines. Not in photograph was re-elected AEA 2005 Inc. board member James Griffith, Niagara-on-the-Lake, who was also re-elected as a board member. The following were re-elected to serve another year as board members – President, Doug Jermyn; Vice-President, Ray Larson; James Griffith, Director; Dave Gladman, Director. Newly-elected Secretary Ron Zwarych replaces retiring board member Sandy McCallion.
Photo AEA 2005 Inc.
SUMMER SCHEDULE:
Silver Dart replica travel and static display schedule at various air shows
- July 17th - to July 21st inclusively - ship to Canadian Aerospace Museum In Downsview, Toronto, Ontario, assemble for July 20th display, and dis-assemble for shipment to Brampton, ON on July 21st.
- July 22nd – re-assemble for display at Brampton Airport from July 23rd to July 25, with dis-assembly in the late afternoon of July 25th and crate for its next move to
- July 29th or July 30th – North Bay, ON.
- July 30th or July 31st – re-assemble in North Bay for display at the Canadian Air Force base on August 1st and August 2nd.
- August 3rd - dis-assemble and ship replica back to Russell Aviation Group (RAG) hangar at the Niagara Falls South Airport, ON, where it will remain until
- August 30th - for shipment to the airport at Brantford, ON, for re-assembly on August 31st, and be on static display September 1st and September 2nd during the Brantford Air Show.
- September 3rd – dis-assemble and ship the replica back to the RAG hangar
- A tentative showing of the replica has been scheduled fort the last week of October in Toronto (location and exact dates to be confirmed later), and following that, the Silver Dart replica is expected to return to the RAG hangar to finally be converted into its permanent museum configuration.
- The conversion period is expected to last from November, 2009 through to May, 2010
City Hall in Welland, ON, Canada, tips its hat to Silver Dart replica core groups during televised May council meeting
Twenty-seven members of the two core groups who put the Welland Silver Dart replica together, and promoted it during a lengthy public and school educational program … after investing more than 6,000 volunteer hours, $50,000 + of donated funds over four year of their lives got an official “tip of the hat” from the City of Welland, Ontario, Canada, during a televised (Niagara Cocego Cable 10) city council meeting on Tuesday, May 7, 2009.
The Welland Tribune daily newspaper carried the story, written by city hall reporter Allan Benner … The article appears on our NEWS page ….
The developing history log of the AEA 2005 Inc.
For a backgrounder and a developing history log of the AEA 2005 Inc., please see the article written by Jim Griffith, Director, AEA 2005 Inc., on the NEWS page titled ...
A brief synopsis of what it took, and who it took,
to build a flyable, full-scale replica of The Silver Dart –
C-IIGY - to commemorate and celebrate in February 2009,
100 years of controlled powered flight in Canada and in the British Empire of Feb. 23rd, 1909
News Archives
Summer 2009
LINK: The Silver Dart replica had a busy summer. Read about it here.
She Flies! Early flight news.
Final Preparations for flight.
LINK: Read about the final fight preparations and related news.