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Baddeck 1
The Baddeck 1 represents the first aircraft built in Canada. After the Aerial Experiment Association had successfully flown a powered aircraft, the partnership dissolved. Casey Baldwin and J.A.D. McCurdy formed the Canadian Aerodrome Company, with help from Alexander Graham Bell, in an effort to create an indigenous aircraft industry. Their first aircraft was the Baddeck 1, an improved version of the Silver Dart. At the same time, the parts for a second aircraft were prepared, which became the Baddeck 2.
Among the innovations made to the Baddeck 1 were double surfaced wings thereby reducing drag. The rubberized silk balloon cloth of the Silver Dart was replaced with a No. 10 grade cloth used on sails for yachts. This reduced the weight of the wings while still being waterproof and resistant to rot. The Baddeck 1 also sported an improved engine and a radiator built so that it provided lift.
After the Silver Dart was destroyed in experiments at Petawawa on 4 August 1909, the Baddeck 1, which had also been shipped to Petawawa, was assembled and used in the tests. When it flew on 12 August, it represented the first flight of a Canadian-made powered aircraft. McCurdy, however, had trouble controlling the aircraft with the result that it “slid backwards”, in effect stalled, damaging the trailing edges of the lower wing after which it was returned to Bell’s facilities at Baddeck.
In June 1910 the modified Baddeck 1 was shipped to Montreal to participate in the Montreal Air Meet, the first of its type in Canada. The improvements included ailerons mounted between the wings, a biplane tail as added and the cambered front elevators replaced by flat ones. McCurdy attempted flights on 27 and 28 June and crashed on 30 June, damaging the aircraft.
