Frederick Walker Baldwin
Frederick Walker Baldwin (January 2, 1882 – August 7, 1948), also known as Casey Baldwin, paternal grandson of Canadian reform leader Robert Baldwin, was a hydrofoil and aviation pioneer and partner of the famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell. He was manager of Graham Bell Laboratories from 1909–32, and represented Victoria in the Nova Scotia Legislature from 1933–37, where he was instrumental in bringing about the creation of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. In 1908, he became the first Canadian and British subject to fly an airplane.
Biography
Born in
Baldwin used his engineering skills to help build the
Baldwin also helped design and build the White Wing airplane and the Red Wing, piloting the latter in a public demonstration of powered aircraft flight at Hammondsport, New York in 1908.[4]
In the summer of 1908, Casey Baldwin and Alexander Graham Bell began discussing powered watercraft and began building and testing various types before turning to the construction of an aircraft that could take off from water that the two called a "hydrodrome." While the project was temporarily shelved, in 1919 Baldwin built the HD-4 hydrofoil that set a world water speed record of 70.86 mph on Bras d'Or Lake. However, the watercraft was not a commercial success and the HD-4 project was ended in 1921.
Following the death of Alexander Graham Bell (August 2, 1922), Casey Baldwin continued boat building and experimenting in hydrofoils in
Casey Baldwin died in
Footnotes
- ^ "Canada's Golden Anniversary". Flight. 75 (2614): 280. 27 Feb 1959. Retrieved 28 Aug 2013.
- ^ "Link with Canadian Pioneers". Flight. 70 (2491): 642. 19 Oct 1956. Retrieved 28 Aug 2013.
- ^ "Aviation's Father Christmas." A. E. Hill. Wingspan magazine Number 97, May 1992, p. 20.
- F. W. Baldwin, the engineer in charge of its construction. The machine was built by the Aerial Experiment Association for Lieut. Thomas Selfridge, U.S.A.
- ^ "History". Cruising Club of America. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
External links
- "Baldwin, Frederick Walker", The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- The Red Wing - Aerodrome 1