A.G. Bell 1847

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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 Prev Western Shore War Memorial Next Birchtown Black Loyalists