Mississauga’s aeronautics story begins on February 23, 1909 on the frozen Bras d’Or Lake in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, stands on the shore near his estate, with an expectant crowd, waiting for history to happen.
His neighbour and protegé John Alexander Douglas McCurdy is happy to oblige.
He is sitting in a contraption held together with steel tubes, friction tape and wires, powered by an engine designed by Glenn Curtiss. McCurdy calls the machine the Silver Dart, Silver for the coating on the wings and Dart because that’s how fast he intended to go.
Someone gives the propeller a pull, the engine cracks to life and McCurdy starts to move. He advances rapidly across the ice, outpacing the skaters who have come out to race him. Then…lift-off. The Silver Dart rises 30 feet into the air travelling at a speed of 30 miles per hour for just under a mile. “She’s all right,” McCurdy yells back to Bell. The elderly inventor agrees and invites everyone back to his place to celebrate.
McCurdy is in the history books, the first person to pilot a powered flight in the British Empire – and he’s just getting started.
McCurdy wasn’t just a one-flight wonder; he was Canada’s first licensed pilot, the first person in the world to make a figure 8 in the sky, the first person to send a wireless message from the air, the first person to demonstrate dropping bombs from the sky and the first person in Canada and the British Empire to be issued a pilot’s licence. Until the day he died, McCurdy held Licence Number 1.
Helping McCurdy achieve all these feats was American entrepreneur and fellow daredevil, Glenn Curtiss who provided a pivotal piece: a reliable engine. McCurdy brought his mechanical engineering prowess, while Curtiss infused the endeavor with his expertise in building lightweight, yet powerful engines.
Out there on the icy waters of Bras d’Or Lake a life-long friendship and partnership was formed and led to the creation of the Long Branch Aerodrome, the place where the dreams nurtured by Bell and his proteges could take flight.
The Curtiss Flying School, a branch of the now-mighty Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, opened Canada’s first aerodrome in 1915 in Long Branch, also known as Lakeview.
McCurdy, now a celebrated aviator, was the Aerodrome’s first manager, where he converted a grassy expanse into the hatching ground for World War I airmen. With aircraft like the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny,” the aerodrome buzzed with the dreams and determination of young pilots, all beneficiaries of the Baddeck legacy.
During the First World War, the Long Branch Aerodrome served as the training ground for the Royal Flying Corps, shaping pilots who would take to the skies in Europe’s darkest hours.
In 1916, the Imperial Munitions Board bought the Curtiss (Canada) aircraft operation, and renamed it Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd to build aircraft for the Royal Flying Corps.
McCurdy was instrumental in this transition.
Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd. manufactured the JN-4 (Can) Canuck, a derivative of the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny,” along with other models such as the Felixstowe F5L flying boat. The company also built the Avro 504, a British aircraft designed by A.V. Roe and Company (Avro), which was among the most popular and widely used aircraft of the First World War.
The Avro 504 played a significant role in training pilots for combat and Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd., under McCurdy’s management, produced the aircraft in Long Branch and trained over 300 pilots for the First World War.
It was the first but not last time A.V. Roe would leave its mark on Mississauga.
After the First World War ended, McCurdy moved to Montreal to lead the Curtiss-Reid Aircraft company, and the Long Branch Aerodrome and flying school closed.
Today a historic plaque and Aviation Road, which runs from Lakeshore down to the Lakefront Promenade Park in Lakeview marks the spot where Canadian aviation history was made.
Here you can walk or bike along the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, a 1,400 kilometre trail that stretches from Windsor to the Quebec border.
The Mississauga portion of the Waterfront Trail runs parallel to Lake Ontario from Winston Churchill Boulevard to Marie Curtis Park, providing links to Oakville, Port Credit Village, the Adamson Estate and the site of Canada’s first Aerodrome, where our country’s aviation industry took off.
You can hear more stories about the people and events that helped shape Mississauga via our podcast, We Built This City: Tales of Mississauga, available on your favourite podcast platform or from our website.