CA-K242History

The Silver Dart made Canada’s first powered flight, 1909

A Silver Dart display photographed in 2017; not the original 1909 aircraft. Silver Dart (35781448891) · Dennis G. Jarvis · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.

Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

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On 23 February 1909, more than 100 people watched the Silver Dart lift off the ice of Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, and fly 800 metres: the first successful powered flight in Canada. Piloted by J. A. D. McCurdy, the biplane was built by the Aerial Experiment Association, founded by Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell (see CA-K154).

Scope & context

The 1909 flight, not later Canadian aviation history.

Sources behind this record

First Aeroplane Flying in Canada National Historic Event ↗

Parks Canada

Historical importance; plaque text