BADDECK, N.S. - The Silver Dart is on its way home to Nova Scotia.
A replica of the airplane that made the first powered flight in the British Empire on Feb. 22, 1909, will leave the Canadian Air and Space Museum in Downsview, Ont., sometime after Saturday and is expected to arrive in Baddeck before the end of October.
The replica built by the Aerial Experiment Association 2005 Inc. was flown on Baddeck Bay during 100th anniversary celebrations of the historic flight.
After the celebrations, the Silver Dart replica was given to the people of Canada by the association, with the aim of having it displayed in the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck when space is made available for it.
Bell was the famed Scottish-born inventor and Baddeck resident who built the original Silver Dart.
The replica was taken back to Ontario after the event, where work has been done to match it up as closely as possible with the original.
Silver Dart Centennial Association chair Shane MacFarlane says it's coming back to Cape Breton before the museum space is ready because the Ontario group had been experiencing financial difficulties.
The replica will be taken apart and packed into two, 53-ft. trailers that will be able to travel at regular highway speeds from Ontario to Cape Breton.
When the replica arrives in Baddeck, it will be put into storage on Victoria County property by the centennial association until arrangements can be made to display it.
"We would have been happy to have it at the Bell museum, but things aren't moving as fast there as we would like. The replica is ready for the Bell (museum), but the Bell is not ready for the replica," said MacFarlane.
A pair of special aviation fans was the reason the Silver Dart replica can't be shipped from Downsview before Saturday, says MacFarlane.
"There was a request from the museum to the builders that it be left until Oct. 15 because there was a wedding on Oct. 15, and the couple wanted to be married next to the Silver Dart."
