A.G. Bell 1847 – 1922
F.W. Baldwin 1882 – 1948
J.A.D. McCurdy 1886 – 1961
Baddeck Victoria County Nova Scotia
Three plaques on the outside wall of the Bell Museum
GPS location: 46°06’11″N 60°44’44″W
Three plaques on the Bell Museum wall
“…the first person to fly an aeroplane in the British Empire…”
This plaque needs to be corrected.
It is now known that the flight at Baddeck on 23 February 1909,
mentioned on this plaque, was the first flight in Canada,
but was not the first flight in the British Empire.
Eighteen weeks earlier, on 16 October 1908, Samuel Franklin Cody
made a flight of 1390 feet 424 metres over Laffin’s Plain, Farnborough,
England, which is recognized by the Royal Aero Club as the first
powered flight in England and in the British Empire.
The above photographs were taken on 24 June 2003.
Also see: A.G. Bell National Historic Park
First Aeroplane Flight monument at the Baddeck Courthouse
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (1886-1961)
http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
The Wayback Machine has archived copies of this document:
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (1886-1961)
Archived: 1998 December 2
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 1999 April 30
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2000 January 8
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2000 July 7
http://web.archive.orghttp://www.exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2001 February 10
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2001 June 10
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2002 February 2
http://web.archive.orghttp://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2002 August 11
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2003 January 12
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/Mini/Flightdeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
Archived: 2003 April 15
http://web.archive.orghttp://exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/mccurdy.cfm
J.A.D. McCurdy Several interesting photographs…
http://www.earlyaviators.com/emccurdy.htm
The Silver Dart makes Canadian aviation history: a look back
Audio clip from the CBC archives
An interview with J.A.D. McCurdy, broadcast on 23 February 1949,
the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Silver Dart at Baddeck
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-419-2424-20/that_was_then/science_technology/silver_dart
John A.D. McCurdy by J.M.S. Careless
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/heirloom_series/volume6/126-127.htm
Canadian Aviation Historical Society, Silver Dart Chapter
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/other_ns/cahs/
First Airplane flight in Canada by U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Wright_Bros/Patent_Battles/WR12G9.htm
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/200/301/ic/can_digital_collections/aviation/m039.htm
Treasures of the APS: A.G. Bell on Powered Flight
Alexander Graham Bell’s address to the American Philosophical Society
on 7 May 1909, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…
http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/exhibits/treasures/flight.htm
Trial by Flyer
…Alexander Graham Bell invited Curtiss to visit him in Washington in January 1907 and
ordered a four-cylinder engine for his kite experiments. Meanwhile, Bell had received
a call from Selfridge, a young West Point graduate who had been studying flight and
believed the military would soon take it seriously. Bell invited Selfridge to Nova Scotia
to see his kites and to meet Mabel. The Bells took a liking to the earnest and personable
young officer, and welcomed him like a member of the family. Bell asked his friend
President Theodore Roosevelt to allow Selfridge to join him as an official aviation observer…
http://www.memagazine.org/flight03/trialby/trialby.html
Glenn Curtiss photographs, 1909 many taken at Baddeck
http://glennhcurtiss.com/id35.htm
Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame
Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame
The fragile aircraft Silver Dart shook loose the frozen bonds of Nova Scotia’s
Bras d’Or Lake in nineteen hundred nine to usher in this fledgling nation’s age of flight…
http://www.cahf.ca/main.htm
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922
http://www.cahf.ca/members/B_members.htm#Alexander%20Graham%20Bell
Frederick Walker Baldwin (1882-1948)
http://www.cahf.ca/members/B_members.htm#Frederick%20Walker%20Baldwin
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (1886-1961)
http://www.cahf.ca/members/M_members.htm#John%20Alexander%20Douglas%20McCurdy
Gerald Lester MacInnis (1914-1991)
http://www.cahf.ca/members/M_members.htm#Gerald%20Lester%20MacInnis
Stuart Graham (1896-1976)
http://www.cahf.ca/members/G_members.htm#Stuart%20Graham
Lindsay Rood (1911- )
http://www.cahf.ca/members/R_members.htm#James%20Lindsay%20Rood
