Aerial Experiment Association

AEA member John Alexander Douglas McCurdy at the controls of an airplane during an aviation 'meet' near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, c. August 1911. The starboard-side of the transverse "shoulder-yoke" hinged structure for aileron control, in the general form of an upper seat support frame, is visible beside the seated pilot.

The Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) was a Canadian-American aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.[1]

The AEA produced several different aircraft in quick succession, with each member acting as principal designer for at least one. The group introduced key technical innovations, notably wingtip ailerons and the tricycle landing gear.

According to Bell, the AEA was a "co-operative scientific association, not for gain but for the love of the art and doing what we can to help one another."[2] Although the association had no significant commercial impact, one of its members, Glenn Curtiss, later established a commercial venture that would ultimately become the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.[3] The AEA was disbanded on 31 March 1909.

  1. ^ Milberry 1979, pp. 12–13.
  2. ^ Milberry 1979, p. 13.
  3. ^ "Aeroplane Factory for This Country" (PDF). The New York Times. March 4, 1909. p. 9. Retrieved November 11, 2021.