J. A. D. McCurdy and the Silver Dart

On February 23, 1959, as 73-year-old J. A. D. “Jack” McCurdy watched the restored Silver Dart take off from the frozen Bras d’Or Lakes, the retired engineer, pilot, businessman and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia could look back on a life of high drama and huge accomplishment.

First Flyer: Fifty years earlier, the 23-year-old McCurdy, fresh from his engineering studies at the University of Toronto, had made aviation history when he flew the Silver Dart—made of steel tubing, bamboo, wire and wood—a distance of 800 metres over the ice-

covered surface of Baddeck Bay. McCurdy, son of a local newspaper publisher and protégé of the great inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, became the first person in the British Empire to make a successful heavier-than-air flight.

Hometown Hero: The Baddeck-born McCurdy had grown up in the company of the Bell family, and was a familiar presence at Beinn Bhreagh, the Bells’ sprawling summer estate. McCurdy was among the group of 4 young men recruited by Bell, and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, to form the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) in the early 1900’s. The group also included McCurdy’s fellow engineering graduate, F. W. “Casey” Baldwin, American motorcycle manufacturer and racer Glen Curtiss, and U. S. Army officer Lt. Thomas Selfridge. Building on Dr. Bell’s extensive experiments with elaborate, man-carrying kites, the AEA developed a series of prototype biplanes. Their 4th and final model was the Silver Dart, first flown by Casey Baldwin during test flights at Curtiss’ Hammondsport, New York factory.

It was the Dart’s first Canadian flight, from the frozen expanse of the Bras d’Or Lakes, February 23, 1909, that drew the attention of the world. As Bell, his family and about 100 astonished Baddeck residents looked on, the biplane lifted about 9 metres off the ice and flew the entire length of Baddeck Bay. The following day, McCurdy flew the Silver Dart in a graceful 7-kilometre circle.

Pioneer Pilot: Following the initial success of their biplane, McCurdy and his young associate, Casey Baldwin, went on to form the Canadian Aerodrome Company. Their hopes of marketing their craft to the Canadian Armed Forces were dashed when the plane sustained heavy damage during a demonstration flight at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. Baldwin turned to hydrofoil experimentation and development, but McCurdy continued to fly until 1916. He was one of only 2 Canadians to hold an Aero Club of America pilot’s license prior to World War I.

Provincial Honours: In later years, McCurdy worked in the aviation supply business. During World War II, he became Assistant Director of Aircraft Production for the Canadian government, and in 1947, was named Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. McCurdy died in 1961.

McCurdy’s Silver Dart was restored and flown at Baddeck in 1959, on the 50th anniversary of its original flight. It suffered additional damage during its commemorative flight, but was once again repaired, and is now on display at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

The World’s Fastest Watercraft
Even in the last decade of Alexander Graham Bell’s life, the Bras d’Or Lakes continued to be the scene of the legendary inventor’s most exciting technological experiments. Just as they had gathered to watch Jack McCurdy lift his Silver Dart off the ice in 1909, residents of the community turned out on September 9, 1919, to witness the Bras d’Or trials of the HD-4, a hydrofoil designed Alexander Graham Bell and his engineering assistant, Casey Baldwin. (A hydrofoil is a motorboat equipped with metal plates, or “foils”, that lift the hull clear of the water.) The prototype craft, equipped with 2 brand new U. S. Navy Liberty engines, attained a speed of 71 miles per hour (114 kilometres per hour), and instantly became the fastest watercraft in the world. Bell and Baldwin’s HD-4 water-speed record remained unbroken until 1963!