The latest happenings...
Welland Silver Dart Replica – C-IIGY - off to Toronto, ON
for the 5th Annual Wings & Wheels Festival on May 29 and 30,
then, to her new temporary home at
Toronto’s Canadian Air & Space Museum
Like a silent sentinel, this control tower at the Russell Aviation Group airfield at Niagara Falls South Airport looms over C-IIGY, being touched up by a few of the AEA 2005 Inc. group members who put her together for one last time as she says her final goodbye to the Niagara Peninsula.
The RAG airport facilities, donated by Ed Russell, has been her home since she underwent final assembly there late in 2008 and early 2009 for her incredible test flights in Hamilton early in February and even more spectacular flights in front of thousands of eager onlookers in Baddeck, Nova Scotia on Sun., Feb. 22nd, 2009.
There, piloted by NASA / Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason, she made six flights to help Canadians and all those in the Commonwealth of Nations celebrate a century of powered flight both for Canada and for the British Empire as it existed in 1909 … the year when the original Silver Dart made her maiden flight – on Feb. 23rd – over Bras d’Or Lake under the auspices of Alexander Graham Bell and his remarkable four-man team of the original AEA 1907 Inc. group of inteprid aviation pioneers.
During the first week in June, it is scheduled to be mounted on a 2.75 m (9-foot) pedestal, close by Canada’s other equally famous aircraft, a full-scale mock-up of the Avro Arrow. C-IIGY will remain there until a new museum is built to house it near the existing Bell museum facilities in Baddeck, NS.
The following web sites provide more information about the Wings & Wheels Festival and the Canadian Air and Space Museum …
http://casmuseum.ca/
http://wingsandwheelsfestival.com/
------------------
Friday, December 4,2009
Pilot of Fortune - first book in Walking on Air
trilogy will be on sale by mid-December 2009
Ted Beaudoin, author and media services manager for the AEA 2005 Inc. non-profit group, in Welland, Ontario, Canada, has announced that Pilot
of Fortune, the first book in his aviation trilogy - Walking on Air - will be available for purchase from Trafford Publishing's web site www.trafford.com, as of Wed., Dec. 15th, and shortly after will also be available for purchase from Amazon, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Nobles book stores, among others, throughout North America and world-wide.
Pilot of Fortune - soft-cover US $18.99 ISBN 9781426922305,
hard-cover US $28.99 ISBN 9781426922312
- is an illustrated 344-page book an aviation adventure biography describing the remarkable international achievements of pilot extraordinaire Sheldon Luck, the first Chief Pilot of Canadian Pacific Air Lines.
Three accomplished professionals who reviewed the book, Alec McLeod, a seven-award winning independent documentary film director from Montr退al, QC, Canada, Jim Griffith, a former Air Canada 747 captain and Stan Taylor, a former science teacher, both from Ontario - called it a great book and must
read for anyone of all ages interested in international aviation, history, adventure and Canadian history in general.
Beaudoin is now working on the final manuscripts for his next two books in the trilogy " Earth Angels Rising" a tribute to the thousands of unheralded civilians who made Ferry Command possible in World War II, and C-IIGY Flies! Beaudoin is donating nearly 43% of his combined royalties from these books to the AEA 2005 Inc. to help it supplement its financial needs as the group prepares to permanently house the Welland Silver Dart replica in a suitable museum in the spring of 2010 in Toronto, ON, Canada.
Quoting his manuscript, "C-IIGY Flies! is the story of a group of dedicated amateurs who built a full-scale, flyable replica of the world-famous Silver Dart, which was the first aircraft to give Canada and the then British Empire controlled and powered flight - in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada on Feb. 23rd, 1909. These men and women built the Welland Silver Dart replica in a home garage in Welland, and went on, with NASA / Canadian Space Agency retired astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason, to make a successful commemorative flight over Baddeck, NS on Sun., Feb. 22nd, 2009, capping a century of powered flight in Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations."
More information about the trilogy and Beaudoin can be found on the Welland Silver Dart replica web site, www.silverdartreplica.com, which will be updated soon to reflect this new information about the trilogy and other developments dealing with the Silver Dart replica. Beaudoin says that his association with our group since March, 2008, inspired him to create, and write this trilogy.
Thank you,
Doug Jermyn, President AEA 2005 Inc.
------------------
AEA 2005 Inc. team presented with Canada’s most prestigious Canadian civilian aviation award – The J.A.D. McCurdy Trophy by the 26,000-member strong Air Force Association of Canada
From left: Ron Zwarych, Welland, ON, AEA 205 Inc. director; Sam Newman, London, ON, Past Ontario Group President, AFAC; Gerald Haddon, Oakville, ON, AEA 2005 Inc. team member and grandson of J.A.D. McCurdy, the man who designed and flew the original Silver Dart aircraft in Baddeck, NS, Canada, on Feb. 22, 2909; Doug Jermyn, Welland, President, AEA 2005 Inc.; Lt-Gen. André Deschamps, Ottawa, ON, Chief of Staff, Canadian Forces, Don Feduck, Welland, AEA 2005 Inc. team member and President, 434 (Niagara Peninsula) Wing, AFAC and Mrs. Carol (Harding) Jermyn.
(Photo courtesy AFAC - Air Force Magazine)
------------------
On Sat., October 17th, 2009, a few members of the AEA 2005 Inc. team from Welland were guests of honour at the Air Force Association of Canada (AFAC) annual general meeting in Trenton, ON, and one of the evening highlights included the presentation of the association’s most prestigious award, the J.A.D. McCurdy Trophy.
During his year as President of the AFAC Ontario Group, Mr. Newman has proposed that the Welland builders of the now famed Silver Dart replica be the recipients of this year’s trophy.
He said that the trophy is highly-coveted in Canadian civilian aviation, and is awarded annually “in recognition of outstanding and praiseworthy achievements by Canadians in the field of civil aviation.”
Mr. Newman added: “How appropriate (for the AEA 2005 Inc team members) to be accorded this award, with one of the recipient members being the very grandson of the icon for which this award was named! Any Canadian citizen, group or unit organization, engaged in the various fields of civil aviation or its support could be considered for this award.
He stressed: “To this end, I am proud to have helped write this recommendation, and for me, it brings my tenure to a close, with a sense of accomplishment, in that my efforts in support of the Silver Dart project, were certainly successful ones.”
-----------------
History of the J.A.D. McCurdy Trophy
(Extracted and briefly re-written from the information contained on from Page 32 of this year’s Air Force Association of Canada Annual General Meeting report, published as a .pdf file on the Internet and available upon request from the Air Force Association of Canada head office in Ottawa.)
In 1993, during the Air Force Association of Canada’s 45th annual general meeting in Winnipeg, MB, an award was established to recognize outstanding and praiseworthy achievements in the field of civil aviation in Canada.
On February 23rd, 1909, the Silver Dart, piloted by J.A.D. McCurdy representing the Aerial Experiment Association 1907 Inc., lifted from the surface of a frozen lake near Baddeck, Nova Scotia – thus making the first heavier-than-air controlled powered flight in Canada and in the British Empire of the day.
The 2009 winners of the J.A.D. McCurdy Trophy are the members of the AEA 2005 organization, who constructed a replica of the Silver Dart aeroplane to enrich Canada's celebration of the country's centenary of flight.
Construction of an airworthy replica of the Silver Dart was a technical feat in and of itself.
What may have mattered more, in this particular case, was the ability of the AEA 2005 Inc. team to capture the imaginations of so many Canadians 100 years after the first Silver Dart took to the air.
In an era where space shuttle launches hardly draw the attention that the original NASA launches of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo managed, the AEA 2005 team was not only able to highlight the aviation marvels of a century ago, but bring back to life those marvels and accomplishments for all to see.
It is in keeping with the very mission of the RCAF Association Trust Fund to inform new generations of Canadians of the rich historical aviation lore of which they have a right to boast - where the AEA 2005 team succeeded.
All members of the Air Force Association of Canada and many more Canadians extend sincere congratulations to the AEA 2005 Inc. team for their endeavours and accomplishments.
Silver Dart replica team captures national aviation trophy
Silver Dart replica team captures national aviation trophy.
The AEA 2005 Inc. has earned the prestigious 2009 J.A.D. McCurdy Trophy from the 26,000-member strong Air Force Association of Canada – AFAC - for outstanding and praiseworthy Achievements by Canadians in the field of Civil Aviation during Canada’s centennial year celebrating powered flight in Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations. This trophy will be presented to AEA 2005 Inc. team members during the AFAC annual meeting in Trenton, ON, on October 17th. More to follow in coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of the Air Force Association of Canada web site
Watch the Silver Dart replica fly - on You Tube videos
Want to see the Silver Dart replica in flight? We’ve many requests for direct links to You Tube from those who want to see the Welland Silver Dart replica in flight. To date, nearly 30,000 viewers from many countries have seen the Silver Dart fly on video … here is a direct link to the Hamilton test flights and the celebratory Baddeck flights …
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Silver+Dart+replica&search_type=&aq=f
… 29 of the 30 links on these two pages take the viewer directly to great videos of the Silver Dart in flight both in Hamilton, Ontario early in February, 2009, during the initial test flights … and of the commemorative flights on early Sunday afternoon, Feb. 22nd, 2009, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia… for a total number of 27,973 views … as of Wed., Sep. 9, 2009.
Most of these videos were kindly – and quickly – posted by kite flying enthusiasts, especially in the Hamilton test flights, who accompanied the chase vehicles as the replica carried out its first test flights there early in February, 2009.
If there is any difficulty in accessing the above web site, one can go to the main You Tube web site at www.youtube.com and enter the words Silver Dart replica in the search engine, which will bring up, among others, the 29 views listed above.
NEWS FLASH
The Silver Dart
replica story goes national
on the CBC television network
starting Thursday, Oct. 8th., and on Friday, Oct. 9th, at CBC-TV NEWSWORLD
The gripping story of Alexander Graham Bell’s and the AEA 1907 Inc.’s original Silver Dart and the Welland Silver Dart replica, will be highlighted this week in a one-hour long special television documentary scheduled to air across Canada on the CBC TV network starting on Thursday, October 8th, at 8 p.m.
It is not only the story of the original Silver Dart, but it is also the story of the First Flight, the title of this, the first of four-hour long specials which will air throughout the month of October on CBC TV and CBC NEWSWORLD on different days and different times.
(See last paragraph for days and times.)
The first hour-long show will also feature the Welland Silver Dart replica, and feature some of those dedicated individuals from the AEA 2005 Inc., the non-profit group whose members built the Silver Dart replica in a home garage and successfully flew it, with a Canadian astronaut at the controls, during a commemorative, celebratory flight straight into the history books as thousands watched the flight in Baddeck, NS on Feb. 22nd, 2009 – all to help Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations top-off the end of the first century of controlled, powered flight one years ago in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada on Feb.23rd, 1909.
Those who want to learn more about this dramatic television documentary series can get more information from the following CBC web site …
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/aviation/
A promotional clip is also available at the following web site, and the full four episodes will also be available from this same web site at later dates …
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Doc_Zone/Canada_Above_and_Beyond/ID=1269430704
The three other hour-long documentaries focusing on spectacular accomplishments of 100 years of Canadian aviation will air at 8 p.m. on three consecutive Thursdays – Oct. 15th, Oct. 22nd and Oct. 29th. The same series will also be presented at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m., Pacific, on CBC NEWSWORLD on two consecutive Fridays - Oct. 9th, Oct. 16th, on Saturday, Oct. 24th and on Friday, Oct. 30th.
welcome everyone
Welcome to our website. As the members of the Aerial Experiment Association 2005 of the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, we offer this website for a number of reasons -
- Present a pictorial history of the construction of our Centennial Silver Dart replica.
- Provide some historical background on Canada’s first airplane - the Silver Dart, and the people who designed, built and flew it almost 100 years ago. HINT- if you know who invented the telephone then you now know who also was behind that aeronautical accomplishment.
- Publicly thank our sponsors and contributors who have so generously supported our project.
- Show some of the faces of the many Niagara region people who are intimately involved in our project. Most are retirees whose wives are very thankful that the project frequently gets them off their couches and out of the house!
- Provide periodic updates on our build and flight test progress.
- Provide information and the opportunity for, hopefully, many more people or corporations to contribute financially to the success of this very Canadian heritage project. The original Silver Dart was quite literally the “stake in the ground” from which all of Canadian aviation grew.
We hope you find this site interesting, informative and enjoyable. Please let us know by contacting us.