John Alexander Douglas McCurdy

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy ( born August 2, 1886 in Baddeck, Canada, † June 25, 1961, Montreal ) was a Canadian aviation pioneer and politician.

After visiting the St. Andrew 's College (Aurora (Ontario) ), he graduated in 1906 from the University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering. In 1907 he began a career in Alexander Graham Bell's Aerial Experiment Association ( AEA).

On February 23, 1909 John Alexander Douglas McCurdy was the first Canadian to fly a plane. McCurdy started with an AEA Silver Dart from the ice of Bras d' Or Lake in Nova Scotia. In 1910 he received a pilot's license the first Canadian. In January 1911 he flew the first non-stop from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba. In 1916 he gave up his flying career.

During the Second World War was a deputy director of the Canadian government aircraft production. From 1947 to 1952 he was vice- governor of the province of Nova Scotia and thus representative of the British Crown. In 1959, he received the Canadian aviation award, the McKee Trophy. In 1973 he was included in Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.