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On a cold February morning in 1909, citizens of Baddeck, Nova Scotia gathered to watch a young Canadian named Douglas McCurdy climb into an airplane. As the tiny Silver Dart soared into the sky, they were lucky enough to see the first airplane flight in Canadian history.
McCurdy's flight was a great success for the six-member Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). The idea and the money for the AEA came from Mabel Bell. She and her husband, Alexander Graham Bell (the guy who invented the telephone) often spent their summer's in Baddeck.
Before building the Silver Dart, the AEA experimented with other flying machines. First they built kites. Not your average fly-at-the park kites, but huge devices for lifting people off the ground. Next they worked on a bi-plane type glider.
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In March 1908, they finished the Red Wing. It had an engine and a cockpit with a seat made out of a legless kitchen chair. (Who said the early days of flight were glamorous?) With Canadian engineer Casey Baldwin in the pilot's seat, the Red Wing raced off down a frozen New York lake. His flight only lasted for about 100 meters, but Baldwin was the first Canadian to fly a heavier-than-air machine!
Unfortunately, the Red Wing's next flight was not so successful. Baldwin crashed because he had no way of controlling the plane's tilt other than throwing his body weight around--not a fun (or safe) way to fly an airplane. With better control in mind, the AEA started work on the White Wing.
The White Wing had three wheels--it looked like a huge flying tricycle. It was designed with hinged wing flaps called "aeilerons" ("little wings" in French). The flaps worked together, controlled by wires attached to the pilot's harness. When the plane's wings tipped one way, the pilot leaned the other way, pulling the flaps, and leveling the plane. The White Wing was the first plane in North America to have these ailerons.
After a few short hops, the White Wing was totaled. The next plane, the June Bug, had a better engine. On July 4, 1908 Glenn Curtiss climbed into the June Bug and made the first recorded one-kilometer flight in North America. (The Wright brothers' flights were not measured officially.)
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After this success, the AEA started work on the Silver Dart, the plane in which McCurdy made his historic flight. From the Cygnet to the Silver Dart, the members of the AEA had met their original goal of building a working flying machine. Together they helped bring Canada into the age of flight. On March 31, 1909 the Aerial Experiment Association broke up.
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