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Former space shuttle astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason had the experience of a lifetime yesterday as he piloted the replica of the Silver Dart at the Hamilton International Airport. After taking off and landing six times, the Dart was flown five meters off the ground in a straight line for about six kilometers.
"It flew very well, it met our expectations," said Tryggvason.
"I could have gone higher," Tryggvason said from the cockpit of the aircraft, after smoothly touching down. "We just wanted to go 10 feet."
"I've worked with the folks for six or eight months," Tryggvason said earlier. "They've done a very good job of building this. I have done a lot of wind tunnel testing to make sure it's rigged properly and set properly. Everything had to be made by hand.”
"It feels great. I've flown the fastest thing in the world. I've flown the slowest thing in the world. I've flown the newest thing, I've flown the oldest thing," Tryggvason said after landing, wearing a loaned leather bomber jacket that, word had it, was once worn by a Lancaster bomber pilot.
"There were a lot of happy people here," he said of the group of aviation enthusiasts who built the copy of the aircraft that made history on Feb. 23, 1909, as the first powered plane to fly in Canada.
The first powered plane to fly in Canada, the Silver Dart, flew nine metres off the ground for one kilometer in front of 200 witnesses in 1909. Today’s Dart, which took four years to complete, was fashioned from original plans and is made of bamboo, wire, nylon and hockey tape. The original was built under the direction of Alexander Graham Bell.
"Most people think of Bell as the telephone guy but he was more than that," Tryggvason said.
"It has helped me to take a step back in time and get closer to the pioneers of aviation in Canada," said Tryggvason, who has become the official pilot of the Dart replica.
The replica Dart is now to be dismantled, shipped and reassembled at Baddeck on Bras d'Or Lake for the centennial celebration on February 23rd. Tryggvason will also to be the pilot at that event.
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