Large crowds gathered at Baddeck in Nova Scotia February 23, 1909, to witness the first Canadian flight.

Dart designed Dart designed and flown by John McCurdy

100th Anniversary of the Silver Dart’s Flight  
Canada Post issue 2009
Designers Crystal Oracle and Dennis Page of Trampoline Marketing Agency
using Michael Little’s artwork.

On a cold February day, a small group of people towed a fragile biplane out onto the frozen Bras d’Or Lake in Nova Scotia and readied it for its inaugural Canadian flight.  John (JAD) McCurdy, sat behind the wheel of the pusher aircraft and prepared to takeoff. He must have said a prayer before he accelerated down the ice and hoped for success. Composed of bamboo, wood, steel tubes, tape and no brakes, it was as much a matter of faith as it was reliance on the design and the team’s build skills, that the plane would fly and not immediately crash to earth. 

 McCurdy took off, flying a distance of 800 metres at 65 kilometres per hour. When he successfully landed, he had completed the first officially recognised flight to take place in the entire British Empire, not just Canada. 

McCurdy at the wheel of the Silver Dart 1909
from the Silver Dart Flight anniversary souvenir sheet

The above is taken from a larger, more detailed post A history of Canadian airmail – Silver Dart | Bitter Grounds Magazine.