Baddeck No. 1 and Crew in front of the Hangar – Military Camp Petawawa, Ontario, Canada.
Image Credit: Nova Scotia Postal History
After the Aerial Experiment Association’s Canadian patent rights were assigned to J.A.D. McCurdy and F.W. (Casey) Baldwin, they formed Canada’s first aviation company, Canadian Aerodrome Company, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia with the material and financial support of Alexander Graham Bell.
The first aircraft produced by the CAC, Baddeck No. 1, had the same general layout as the Silver Dart. The aircraft had a slim metal fuel tank contained within the wing structure, which was an innovation first introduced on Baddeck No. 1 that is now featured on almost every aircraft.
The Department of Military and Defence, responsible for military land forces in Canada, invited Baldwin and McCurdy to fly at Camp Petawawa in the presence of military observers after Bell lobbied Federal government officials.
The Silver Dart and Baddeck No. 1 arrived in Petawawa in the Ottawa Valley in July 1909 and were assembled in a hangar for the military demonstrations.
The Silver Dart made five short flights at Petawawa on August 2, including with both McCurdy and Baldwin aboard, but it was wrecked upon landing. The engine was salvaged and transferred to Baddeck No. 1. It flew on August 12 for a distance of about 100 yards (91 m), and flew 70 yards (64 m), the next day before landing hard and damaging the propeller and undercarriage.
Unfortunately, the demonstrations at Petawawa didn’t generate the desired support. The Canadian Cabinet refused to authorize expenditures on aviation.
The Baddeck No. 1 was shipped back to Nova Scotia for repairs, but five important achievements took place in Petawawa that day: the first flight of a Canadian-made powered aircraft; the first Canadian military aviation trials; the first passenger flight in Canada; the first aircraft hangar built in Canada; and the first powered aircraft flight in Ontario.
The Baddeck No. 2 was first flown at Baddeck on September 25,1909 and 59 flights were made through March 12,1910 on wheels and a final short flight on June 1,1910 outfitted with a single float from the grass at the water’s edge to the adjacent water.
The Baddeck No. 1 was shipped to Montreal in June 1910 to participate in the historic Montreal Air Meet. McCurdy crashed and damaged the aircraft on June 29, which led to the demise of the company.
Only the engine of the Silver Dart and a few parts of Baddeck No. 1 survive in museums.
– Kenneth Schwartz
Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills, and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.