Aviation: In His Own Words

The Silver Dart on Baddeck Bay, February 1909. with JAD McCurdy at the controls (Library of Congress)

On March 23, 1909, one month after the first powered flight in Canada, JAD McCurdy stood before a hometown crowd and described the nation’s earliest experiments with powered flight.

This speech is in McCurdy’s own words and gives us a unique first-hand view of the Aerial Experiment Association’s work as they explored manned flight. It is full of his own personal experiences as he and the group members mastered the mechanics of flight.

The AEA Bulletins, a 41-volume written record of the group’s experiments, was Bell’s way to keep each member of the group informed on all the experiments happening between the AEA’s working locations in Hammondsport, NY, the Bell Lab at Beinn Bhreagh and Bell’s home in Washington D.C.

In the days following this presentation, Bell, Baldwin and McCurdy would form the nation’s first aircraft manufacturing company, the Canadian Aerodrome Company (CAC). Using the workforce at Bell’s Beinn Bhreagh Lab, which already had experience in getting the Silver Dart into the air - it was hoped a viable industry would be created at Baddeck. For the next year, the CAC employed local men and built two aircraft modelled on the Silver Dart and named the Baddeck I and the Baddeck II. The two aircraft were both named to honour the community that had built them.

The following entry from the AEA Bulletins Jan 4, 1909-April 12, 1909, was recorded by Charles Cox. He worked at the Beinn Bhreagh labs and served as a writer and editor of the AEA Bulletins. He dutifully recorded the proceedings of March 23, 1909, allowing us to peek into the courtroom and step back to Baddeck in 1909 and the early days of flight in Canada.

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LECTURE ON AVIATION AT BADDECK: By Charles R. Cox

On Tuesday evening March 23, nearly everyone crossed the ice from Beinn Bhreagh, in the midst of a blinding snowstorm to listen to the Lecture on Aviation given by Mr. Douglas McCurdy, and Mr. Frederick W. Baldwin in aid of the Parent's Association of Baddeck. Although the night was perhaps one of the worst we have had this winter, it did not materially interfere with the attendance, as the Court House was well filled, and was a great success from a financial standpoint.

Mr. H. Percy Blanchard, acting as Chairman, opened the meeting by stating "There is something in the Air", which remark brought laughter and applause. He further went on to state, that the Association was sorry that they did not have the honour of listening to Dr. Bell, who had gone to Ottawa to make an address before the Canadian Club of that city, but that he would take great pleasure in introducing the first speaker of the evening, well known to all present, Mr. F.W. Baldwin, who sometime will be Sir Frederick Baldwin, otherwise known as K.C.B. It was some little time before the joke was actually taken up, but which finally brought forth much laughter and applause.

Mr. Baldwin in his address, which towards the end was illustrated with Lantern Slides took up the subject of Aviation from the time of Leonardo de Vinci (1492) up to the organization of the Aerial Experiment Association at Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 1, 1907. Mr. Baldwin with few changes repeated his lecture which he delivered before the Faculty and Students at Toronto University, and the Canadian Club of Toronto.

Frederick 'Casey' Baldwin at the Beinn Bhreagh lab, 1908. (Parks Canada)

JAD 'Douglas' McCurdy, born and raised in Baddeck, piloted the Silver Dart on Feb. 23, 1909 - the first flight in Canada. (Nova Scotia Archives)

Mr. J.A.D. McCurdy then took the subject from the organization of the Aerial Experiment Association, Oct. 1, 1907, up to the present experiments, which have been witnessed daily by the people of Baddeck on the ice in Baddeck, illustrating his lecture with lantern slides. Mr. McCurdy spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:

During the Spring of 1907, Dr. Bell had gathered around him four young men who were more or less interested in the subject of Aviation. These men to whom I refer are personally known, I think, to you all, and are respectively, Messrs. F.W. Baldwin, G.H. Curtiss, the Late Thomas E. Selfridge, and myself. All through that memorable summer we had the opportunity, and I may say privilege, of being closely connected with Dr. Bell in his work.

One afternoon in September, after we had come home from the Laboratory and were sitting round the big fire in the Hall of Dr. Bell's home, Mrs. Bell presiding over the small tea table, announced that she had conceived an idea which had been appealing to her more and more as time went on, and now she intended to submit it to Mr. Bell before all of us who were present.

She briefly reviewed the work which led to the establishment of the Volta Association, which had been started and financed by Mr. Bell many years ago, and which consisted of himself and three other gentlemen, the object of which had been to produce a talking instrument; and so the graphophone was evolved which to-day is of great scientific value and the source of great amusement to old and young.

Mabel Bell inspired the AEA. She also financed it, becoming the first woman to provide funds for research & development in the new field of 'aerial navigation'. (Parks Canada)

 She then went on to say, that here was a similar condition of affairs, Mr. Bell surrounded by these young men who were all interested, both in Mr. Bell personally, and the work for which he labored. Now the proposition was, that Mr. Bell should form an Association of some kind, the object of which would be "to get into the air". Mrs. Bell herself generously proposed to finance such an Association. 

It is perhaps hardly necessary for me to state, that the idea met with the enthusiastic approval of us all and so after considerable planning on the part of Dr. Bell papers of the organization of the proposed Association were drawn up and signed by the above named five gentlemen in Halifax. October 1st, 1907, thus marks the date which will long be remembered by us personally, and perhaps also by those who have followed the development of the organization of the Aerial Experiment Association.

The Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). (L-R) Glenn Curtiss, Frederick 'Casey' Baldwin, Alexander Graham Bell, Lt. Thomas Selfridge and JAD McCurdy. Photo taken at Beinn Bhreagh by Mabel Bell in 1907. (Parks Canada)

 Work had been going on during the summer on the construction of a large man-carrying tetrahedral kite. This machine was designed and in fact most of the details worked out by Dr. Bell... When completed the kite was indeed a beautiful structure composed as it was of over 3000 small tetrahedral cells covered with brilliant red silk. The egg had but just hatched, and a beautiful young swan had been born. Such was the comparison made by Mr. Bell when Mrs. Bell by pouring over its bow a mug of Beinn Bhreagh water christened it the Cygnet.

It was early in December when finally, all preparations were made for the first trial of the Cygnet. The Victoria Steamship Company kindly supplied us with the services of their boat, the Blue Hill, with which to tow the floating raft "Ugly Duckling", on which the Cygnet rested.

It had been decided that Lieut. Selfridge should have the honour to be the first to make an ascension in a tetrahedral structure, so on December 6, he took his place in the man-hole of the machine dressed in as light clothing as was compatible with the weather conditions.

McCurdy & others stand on the upper deck of the Blue Hill as the Cygnet with Lt. Thomas Selfridge aboard readies for flight in December 1907 on Baddeck Bay. (Parks Canada)

When off Beinn Bhreagh Head the steamboat was headed into a NW wind and the signal given to the men on the deck of the Ugly Duckling to "let go". Away soared the kite to an altitude of 168 feet. The wind, however, was of insufficient velocity to support the machine, and so during a period between two puffs the Cygnet gently came down till finally she rested on the surface of the water. So slowly and gently did she descend that Selfridge was not aware that he was coming down till suddenly he was rushed forward through the water at the speed of the Blue Hill. The smoke from the funnels had so obscured our view from the upper deck of the boat that the signal was not given to cut the flying line, and so the beautiful structure was totally wrecked. Some data had, however, been secured by Selfridge from the scientific instruments which were secured to the Cygnet in places convenient for his observations, and the angle of flight and wind velocity were carefully noted by him in his book.

The season was by this time so far advanced that the Association decided to go to Hammondsport, the home of G.H. Curtiss. This town held special advantages as our work would be near the motorcycle shops of Mr. Curtiss. A large lake was close beside us where experiments over the ice could be conducted, and a meadow of considerable size just outside the limits of the Town, where experiments could take place in the summer after the ice had gone.

We were all very anxious to build a glider… This machine served its purpose, but as a stimulant to get into the air in a power machine, rather than in giving us any actual data from which we could design machines. We made about 50 glides in all, varying in length from 10 feet to 100 yards. Well do I remember the hard bumps which resulted from losing control of the glider when man and machine were thrown violently to the ground.

The AEA members threw themselves off a steep hill in Hammondsport NY, with makeshift gliders attached to their arm. It's good these daredevils were young! (Glenn Curtiss Museum)

 We soon had collected together all the information we could obtain on the construction of machines which were actually flying, and by sorting out what we considered their good points incorporated them into ideas of our own, and so finally the first power machine of the Association was lying in the aerodrome shed at Hammondsport ready to be tried. At the suggestions of Mr. Bell and Mrs. Curtiss it was officially named Selfridge's Red Wing. This machine was given its first trial over the ice on Lake Keuka on March 12, 1908. Mr. F.W. Baldwin, who was the aviator therefore has the honor of being the first man to make a public flight¹ in a heavier-than-air machine in America. The distance covered by the aerodrome was carefully measured by means of a steel tape, and the actual distance recorded was 318 feet 11 inches. We were all of course very much pleased and Mr. Bell jokingly remarked that it was fine, but only to think, that it was made by a Canadian and not by an American.

The Red Wing was tried once more on March 17, St. Patrick's Day, but the good Saint forgot to come to our aid, for a sudden puff of wind turned the machine up on end, so that the port wing struck the ice, and the Red Wing was telescoped into a shapeless mass on the ice. Baldwin however escaped without any injury whatever. The accident to this our first machine did not however dampen our spirit, and so at once designs were gotten out for our second machine, Baldwin's White Wing.

By this time the ice had all disappeared, so the runners were replaced by wheels. Mr. H. Champlin, a gentleman of Hammondsport kindly offered us the use of his large meadow at one end of which was a half mile racetrack. A stretch of this track we proposed using as a place for starting our machines. The machine proper differed from the Red Wing, in that moveable wing tips were provided being substantially a continuation of the main surfaces whereby the operator could preserve the lateral balance of the machine. The White Wing made in all five flights, the distance of which ranged from 20 to 300 yards. In the final flight, in which I was the aviator the machine got away from me, and plunging to the earth was completely demolished. I however came through the fall without mishap.

We felt by this time that our successes were such as to warrant building a third machine, and especially with the idea in view of applying for the award of the Scientific American Trophy, it was decided that Mr. Curtiss should alone ride the machine, which was finally named the June Bug. By adopting such a plan much experience could be gained by repeated flights, whereas if all took turns as aviators, disaster to the machine was sure to come.

Many successful flights were made of varying lengths and at last we thought that our chances of lifting the Scientific American Trophy were fairly good, and so arrangements were made with the Aero Club² of America to come to Hammondsport on July 4 and officially observe our flight over the prescribed distance of one kilometer. This distance was easily negotiated, and so not only did we win the coveted trophy but added to our records the honor that one of the Association aerodromes was the first to make an official flight in America³.

Glenn Curtiss, a member of Bell's AEA flies the Red Wing on July 4, 1908 in Hammondsport New York, winning the Scientific America trophy for the first public flight of more than a mile. (Library of Congress)

For the remainder of the summer months the June Bug was flown day after day by Curtiss, Selfridge and myself, and much experience gained in control and balance. Her record flight was in covering the figure eight, a distance of about 2 ½ miles.

Still a fourth machine was built at Hammondsport which, I think, is perhaps known to you all, as the Silver-Dart. A specially designed water-cooled motor was installed in the machine, and we anticipated longer flights. A mile and a half with part of a turn negotiated was the greatest distance covered with the Silver-Dart at Hammondsport, and so with the first of January plans were completed for transporting the machine to Baddeck, where experiments could be conducted over the ice on Bras d'Or Lake in conjunction with the tests to be performed with Drome No. 5, Bell's Cygnet the Second.

The Cygnet I, Bell's tetrahedral powered kite on the ice in February 1909. The craft was tested, but did not lift off the ice. (Wikipedia)

This large tetrahedral structure as you are presumably aware resembles the Cygnet I in general appearance. It is composed of nearly 4000 small tetrahedral cells, and the completed structure is mounted on ice runners to facilitate getting up speed over the ice.

It was Dr. Bell's original intention to try this machine in a similar manner to that employed in flying Cygnet I, but navigation being closed on the Lake due to the formation of ice, compelled us to perform tests along the same lines as in the case of our other aerodromes. Several trials have been made, but so far the Cygnet has not left the ice. It is possible that this is due to improper application of the power at our command, or it may be that head resistance of the structure is too great when as in the case of Cygnet II pure tetrahedral construction is employed all through. I think that I may assume that you are all with us in hoping that we may in time succeed in getting a tetrahedral structure into the air under its own motive power.

Numerous flights have been made with the Silver-Dart on Baddeck Bay, the first of which marks an epoch in the history of Canada, for on Feb. 23, 1909, at Baddeck the first flight in Canada of a heavier-than-air machine took place. As time goes on and Canada gains more and more prominence in the eyes of the aeronautical world, the citizens of Baddeck can look back and be proud that their hometown was instrumental in introducing aviation into the Dominion.

Silhouette of JAD McCurdy at the controls of the Silver Dart. (Parks Canada)

On the 31st of this month the Aerial Experiment Association will be dissolved, but in name only, for we sincerely hope that circumstances will permit the members to work together in the future along lines which through the Aerial Experiment Association have proved to be so agreeable, interesting and instructive to us all. (End of speech by JAD McCurdy)

At the conclusion of the lecture a vote of thanks proposed by Mr. Sutherland and seconded by Mr. McIntosh was unanimously adopted, expressing the appreciation of the citizens of Baddeck for the opportunity of listening to the very instructive address concerning a work in which Baddeck along with the rest of the world was deeply interested. (Charles R. Cox)

Notes by Jocelyn:

1. Although the flight over Lake Keuka in New York on March 12, 1908, was a public flight, there were few members of the public or press there. Casey was the only AEA member not on skates that day, which impacted his ability to help. It was decided that he could be put to better use behind the wheel. This flight marks the first ever for a Canadian.

2. The Aero Club of America hosted public flying exhibitions.

3. What about the Wright Brothers? Yes, the Wrights were the first to fly. They successfully flew a powered airplane with a man aboard on December 17, 1903, in North Carolina. But they flew in secrecy. They were very protective of their invention and their patents. And although it is hard to imagine in the times of 24-hour news cycles and cameras everywhere, the Wrights were able to keep their secret for more than a year. In fact, Alexander Graham Bell, who had been experimenting with flight for many years by 1903, didn’t learn of the Wright’s North Carolina flight until April 1905 – sixteen months later.  Even then, only a handful of people in North America were aware that manned flight had become a reality. The science of aviation was still very rudimentary. For years after, the Wrights continued to use skids and a catapult to get into the air. It was the AEA that was the first to use wheels on a plane! The AEA is credited with the tricycle undercarriage and the aileron – a moveable wingtip used for stability.

Sources:

·        The AEA’s entire volume of work is available at the Canadian Heritage site Canadiana. The link is here: https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06946

·        The Public Archives of Nova Scotia has a JAD McCurdy virtual exhibit with lots of photos, memorabilia from the cairn unveiling in 1934 and from the 1959 celebrations as well. You can find it here: https://archives.novascotia.ca/mccurdy/

·        There are great old photos from the heady days of early flight in Baddeck at Parks Canada site for the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site (and lots of great history too!) here: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/grahambell/decouvrir-discover/galerie-gallery