Alexander Graham Bell, The Aerial Experiment Association and The Silver Dart

The original founders of The Aerial Experiment Association are, from left to right, Glenn Curtiss, Casey Baldwin, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Selfridge and Douglas McCurdy.

 

 

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace Symonds. His mother was almost deaf, and his father taught elocution to the deaf. At the age of 11 Alexander Graham Bell entered high school in Edinburgh, but by the age of 15 he left without even graduating.

 

 

In 1865 the family moved to London, England where, in June of 1868, Alexander passed the entrance exams to attend the University College London. However, two of Alexander's brothers passed away from tuberculosis during this time, and so the family once again pulled up their roots and emigrated to Bradford, Ontario, Canada. In April of 1871 Alexander moved to Boston where he taught at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes, as well as other schools for the deaf in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

 

 

While continuing his teaching profession, Bell became interested in researching the telegraph and telephone ideas. In 1880 the French government awarded Bell the Volta Prize, given for achievement in electrical science. Bell used the prize money to set up his Volta Laboratory, an institution devoted to studying deafness and improving the lives of the deaf, in Washington, D.C.

 

 

In September 1885, the Bell family vacationed in Nova Scotia, Canada, and immediately fell in love with the climate and landscape. The following year, Bell bought 50 acres of land near the village of Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, and began constructing an estate he called Beinn Bhreagh, Scots Gaelic for “Beautiful Mountain.” The Scottish-born inventor had been an American citizen since 1882, but the Canadian estate became the family's summer retreat and later permanent home.

 

 

It is the early days of aviation, and from 1891 forward, Alexander Graham Bell began experiments to develop a motor powered heavier than air aircraft. On September 30, 1907, under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, and with the encouragement and financial support of his wife Mabel Bell, The Aerial Experiment Association was formed. The original members of this organization were Glenn Curtiss, Casey Baldwin, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Selfridge and Douglas McCurdy.

 

 

The June Bug

 

 

In 1845, a gentleman by the name of Rufus Porter, decided to start the publication of a magazine he called the Scientific American, which was focused mostly on patents and advice for inventors. By 1853 its circulation had reached 30,000, and it had begun to report on various sciences—e.g., astronomy and medicine—apart from inventions.

 

 

One of the areas of interest to the magazine was the development of manned flight, and they knew that in Europe they offered trophies for aerial accomplishments. So, in 1907, in coordination with The Aerial Experiment Association, they decided to offer a trophy to the first person to fly a powered, manned aeroplane, in a straight line for a distance of one kilometer, a distance of just over one-half mile. This was the first such trophy to be offered for an accomplishment with a powered man flown airplane. The trophy is considered one of the most beautiful trophies ever made.

 

 

The trophy sports a spread eagle sitting on top of a globe with a Langley airplane model on forward side, and the North and South American continents on the rear surface. The globe is suspended by clouds on top of a pillar, with three winged horses on each side of base. The base is onyx. The trophy is 31 inches tall by 18 1/2 inches by 14 3/16 inches.

 

 

 

 

It was generally assumed that the Wright Brothers would be the first to win the trophy, but much to their surprise the Wright Brothers were busy elsewhere trying to get a government contract for their airplane.

 

 

Enter the June Bug!

 

 

The June Bug was the creation of Glenn Curtiss, a member of the Aerial Experiment Association, and was constructed using Spruce wood, Bamboo, wire and fine-weave cotton fabric. The aeroplane was powered by a 40 horsepower air-cooled V8 engine designed by Curtiss, and had a wooden propeller.

 

 

In the late spring of 1908 the "Bell's Boys" completed their third aircraft. It was the first aircraft designed and built by Glenn Curtiss, and he called it the June Bug. On June 20, 1908, Curtiss made 3 attempts to get the aircraft airborne, but without success. As he studied the aircraft he thought that perhaps too much of the air was bleeding through the cloth used to cover the wings.

 

 

Glenn decided to treat the wings with a mixture of gasoline and paraffin to seal the fabric. This mixture was called "canvas paint" and had long been employed by sailors to seal their sails, making them more aerodynamically efficient as well as less susceptible to mildew. So, on June 21st, 1908, Glenn Curtiss made three successful attempts, and within a week Curtiss could fly the June Bug more than a 1,000 yards (3,000 feet).

 

 

Glenn Curtiss sitting in the cockpit of the June Bug aeroplane.

 

 

On July 4, Curtiss piloted the "June Bug" across Pleasant Valley for a distance of 5,090 feet. It was the first officially-recognized, pre-announced and publicly-observed flight in America. It won Curtiss the first leg of the trophy and established him as America's foremost aviation pioneer.

 

 

A photograph of Glenn H. Curtiss winning the Scientific American Trophy on July 4, 1908.

 

 

The Silver Dart

 

 

The Silver Dart was designed and built by the Aerial Experiment Association. J.A.D. McCurdy was the Silver Dart's principal designer and pilot. Glenn H. Curtiss, an American builder of motorcycle engines, developed the aircraft's water-cooled engine, an advance on the association's earlier experiments. The aeroplane was built between October 1907 and March of 1909.

 

 

The frame and structure of the Silver Dart were made with steel tube, bamboo, friction tabe, wire and wood. The engine was a reliable air-cooled V-8 engine. The propeller was carved out of a solid block of wood. The wings were covered with a rubberized, silvery ballon cloth supplied by Capt. Thomas Scott Baldwin of Hammondsport, New York. Hence the name Silver Dart.

 

 

A sketch of the Aerial Experiment Association Silver Dart aeroplane.

 

 

Specifications:

• Crew: 1
• Passengers: 1
• Length: 30 feet
• Wingspan: 40 feet 1 inch
• Height: 9 feet 7 inches
• Empty weight: 320 pounds
• Maximum speed: 40 mph
• Range: 20 miles
• Powerplant: One Curtiss V-8 50 horesepower air-cooled piston engine

 

 

After several successful flights at Hammondsport, New York, the Silver Dart was dismantled, crated and brought to Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, the Bells' Canadian home. Alexander Graham Bell preferred to call the Silver Dart the "aerodrome" instead.

 

 

A group pulling the Silver Dart of the Aerial Experimental Assoc over the snow on December 9, 1908.

 

 

J.A.D. McCurdy flew the Silver Dart in Baddeck, Nova Scotia on February 23, 1909, at Baddeck, Nova Scotia,. Canada, made the first flight of an aircraft in Canada.

 

 

J.A.D. McCurdy pilots the Silver Dart over Baddeck Bay in the first airplane flight in Canada.

 

 

Legacy

 

 

On February 23, 1909, the Silver Dart took to the air in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, with J.A.D. McCurdy at the controls, while more than 100 of Alexander Graham Bell's neighbors looked on. After the Silver Dart travelled about 90 feet over the snow it rose into the sky, flying at an elevation of between 9 and 27 feet, at roughly 40 miles per hour, and for a distance of about 2,400 feet.

 

 

The flight of the Silver Dart was designated a national historic even in 1934. Afterwards the Silver Dart's engine became part of the collection of the National Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, Canada. Today, a full-scale model of the Silver Dart can be found at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this blog, sign up to receive your own weekly blog post here: Subscribe here!

 

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!