John alexander douglas mccurdy biography definition
Brief Life History of John
McCurdy died in Montreal on June
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy MBE
John Alexander Douglas McCurdy MBE, (2 August 1886 – 25 June 1961) was a Canadian Aviation Pioneer and the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952. Son of Inventor Arthur Wiliams McCurdy and born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, McCurdy was known as "Douglas". He was schooled at St. Andrews College in Aurora, Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering in 1907, where he had been a Member of The Kappa Alpha Society. The University of Toronto Yearbook for his graduation year (1907) shows that he was active in rugby and fencing. In 1907, he joined Alexander Graham Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association In 1908, McCurdy helped another AEA member, Glenn Curtiss to set up the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. McCurdy became the first British subject to fly an aircraft in the British Empire when, in February 1909, he piloted the Aerial Experiment Association’s Silver Dart off the ice of Bras d’Or Lake in Nova Scotia. The Silver Dart was the first powered aircraft to fly in Canada. In 1910, he was the first Canadian to be issued a Pilot's License and the following year, he made the first flight from Florida to Cuba. For the next few years, he continued to set aviation records in Canada and North America, until 1916, when vision problems grounded him.
THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy
After reading the Vintage Wings of Canada piece on the Silver Dart I was reminded of Douglas McCurdy and that he and I did his last flight together! McCurdy died in Montreal on June 25th, 1961 at the age of 74. Only two years before he had witnessed the emotional re-enactment, in "Silver Dart II", of his historic flight at Baddeck. In that same year he was made an honourary Air Commodore in the Royal Canadian Air Force by Air Marshal Hugh Campbell.
I was tasked by 412 Squadron to take him back to Nova Scotia... an unusual request, but a VIP flight for sure. We were to pick him up in Montreal (St. Hubert) and fly him to Sydney, Nova Scotia and I remember the flight well. I had 412 Dakota No. 981 and on the 8 July 61 we flew the Dak to position it at St. Hubert at the required time. The First Officer was in the cockpit ready to fire up the engines immediately on completion of boarding and I was outside in full dress uniform awaiting the hearse. At the appointed time, I was surprised to see 3 well-dressed people, two women and a man, walking purposely towards the aircraft... I presumed they were an accompanying party awaiting the hearse. It turned out to be McCurdy's wife, McCurdy Jr. and another relative... and they were carrying McCurdy... in an urn. He had been cremated. Apparently his ashes were to be buried overlooking Bras d'Or Lake.
The flight was completed without incident and we overnighted in Sydney to bring the accompanying party back to Montreal the next day, which we did. I've since regretted that at the time it never occurred to me to try and witness the event. Apparently it went off OK because our departure the next day was on schedule, but we really were not in a position to enquire of the passengers under the circumstances, and I never saw any media report of the event. Perhaps it was a private affair.
Bob Fassold
Well Bob, we can tell you now - it was private. In fact, it was
History Behind The Card: “Silver Dart” Biplane. And then some. Card #43 of 50, W.D.& H.O Wills, Aviation series 1910 Dr. Alexander Graham Bell in Edinburgh, Scotland, Great Britain, March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922, Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, … Continue reading →
Posted inAviation Art, Concepts, Firsts, Heavier-Than-Air, Motors and Engines, People, Pilots, Tobacco Card|TaggedAerial Experiment association, Aero Club of America, ailerons, Alexander Graham Bell, Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Curtisss V8 motor, Cygnet I motorized kite, Cygnet II motorized kite, First airplane flight in Canada, Frederick. W. Casey Baldwin, Glenn Hammond Curtiss, Henri Farman, John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, June Bug plane, Loon airplane, Mabel Bell, Red Wing plane, Silver Dart plane, Thomas Etholen Selfridge, White Wing plane|
Aerial Experiment Association
1907–1909 aircraft research group
The Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) was a Canadian-American aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.
The AEA produced several different aircraft in quick succession, with each member acting as principal designer for at least one. The group introduced key technical innovations, notably wingtip ailerons and the tricycle landing gear.
According to Bell, the AEA was a "co-operative scientific association, not for gain but for the love of the art and doing what we can to help one another." Although the association had no significant commercial impact, one of its members, Glenn Curtiss, later established a commercial venture that would ultimately become the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. The AEA was disbanded on 31 March 1909.
Origins
The AEA came into being when John Alexander Douglas McCurdy and his friend Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin, two recent engineering graduates of the University of Toronto, decided to spend the summer in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. McCurdy had grown up there, and his father was the personal secretary of Bell. He had grown up close to the Bell family and was well received in their home. One day, as the three sat with Bell discussing the problems of aviation, Mabel Bell, Alexander's wife, suggested they create a formal research group to exploit their collective ideas. Being independently wealthy, she provided a total of US$35,000 (equivalent to $1,190,000 in 2023) to finance the Association, with $20,000 made available immediately by the sale of property.
Curtiss, the American motorcycle designer and manufacturer and a recognized expert on gasoline engines, was recruited as a member of the association, and his associate Augustus Post assisted as representative from the Aero Club of America. Curtiss had vi