"We breathed an atmosphere of aviation from morning till night and almost from night to morning… I may say for myself that this Association with these young men proved to be one of the happiest times of my life."
- Alexander Graham Bell.

Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, February 23, 1909, J.A. Douglas McCurdy flew Canada into the Aviation Era - lifting off in the Silver Dart from the ice on the Bras D'Or Lakes for the first manned flight in the British Empire. Working in a team called the Aerial Experiment Association - four young men centred on Alexander Graham Bell;  a team that Mabel Bell organized, named and financed - the boy from Baddeck flew into history. The Silver Dart is a story of companionship and achievement, invention and courage - as Canadian aviation is born on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The replica of the Silver Dart flying on the front cover is now on permanent display at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic museum overlooking the site of McCurdy's historic 1909 flight over the Bras D'Or Lakes.