AEA Silver Dart

46°07′06″N 60°43′01″W / 46.1184°N 60.7169°W / 46.1184; -60.7169

AEA Silver Dart
The AEA Silver Dart in flight.
General information
TypePioneer Era aircraft
ManufacturerAerial Experiment Association
Designer
StatusDestroyed in crash
Primary userAerial Experiment Association
Number built1
History
Manufactured1908
First flight23 February 1909

The Silver Dart (or Aerodrome #4) was a derivative of an early aircraft built by a Canadian/U.S. team, which after many successful flights in Hammondsport, New York, earlier in 1908, was dismantled and shipped to Baddeck, Nova Scotia. It was flown from the ice of Baddeck Bay, a sub-basin of Bras d'Or Lake, on 23 February 1909, making it the first controlled powered flight in Canada. The aircraft was piloted by one of its designers, Douglas McCurdy. The original Silver Dart was designed and built by the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), which had been formed under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.

From 1891, Bell had begun experiments at Baddeck and Hammondsport to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. By 1908, the success of the AEA was seen in a series of ground-breaking designs, culminating in the Silver Dart. By the time the Silver Dart was constructed in late 1908, it was the Aerial Experiment Association's fourth flying machine. One of its precursors, the June Bug, had already broken records. It won the Scientific American Trophy for making the first official one mile (1609 m) flight in North America.[N 1]

The frame and structure of the Silver Dart were made of steel tube, bamboo, friction tape, wire and wood. The wings were covered with rubberized, silvery balloon cloth provided by Capt. Thomas Scott Baldwin of Hammondsport; hence the name the "Silver Dart". Its Kirkham engine, supplied by Glenn Curtiss, was a reliable V-8 that developed 50 horsepower (37 kW) at 1,000 RPM. The propeller was carved from a solid block of wood. The aircraft had what is now called a canard or an "elevator in front" design. Like most aircraft of its day the Silver Dart had poor control characteristics; likewise, it had no brakes.[2][failed verification]

  1. ^ Phillips 1977, pp. 96–97.
  2. ^ Hurst, Bob (2010). "A.E.A. Silver Dart". Canadian Wings: The History and Heritage of the Canadian Air Force. AEROWAREdesigns. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2011.


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