The Cygnet (or Aerodrome #5) was an extremely unorthodox early aircraft, with a wall-like "wing" made up of 360 tetrahedral cells. It was a powered version of the Cygnet kite designed by Alexander Graham Bell in 1907 and built by the newly-founded Aerial Experiment Association.
On December 6, Thomas Selfridge piloted the aircraft as it was towed into the air behind a motorboat, eventually reaching a height of 168 ft (51 m). While demonstrably able to fly as a person_carrying kite, it seemed unpromising as a direction for research into powered flight. It was difficult to control, and was in fact destroyed when it hit the water at the end of the flight.
The following year, a smaller copy of the design was built as the Cygnet II, now equipped with wheeled undercarriage and a Curtiss V-8 engine. Attempts to fly it at Baddeck, Nova Scotia between February 22-241909 met with failure.
Rebuilt again as the Cygnet III with a more powerful engine, it finally flew on March 11912 at Lake Bras d'Or, Nova Scotia, piloted by John McCurdy.
The AEA contacted the Wright brothers, offering them the chance to make an attempt first, but when they declined the opportunity, Curtiss took to the air on July 4, flying 5,360 ft (1.6 km) in a flight of 1 minute 40 seconds, and therefore collecting the trophy and a $US 25,000 cash prize.
Amidst the publicity following the flight, the Wrights sent a warning to Curtiss that they had not given permission for the use of "their" aircraft control system to be used "for exhibitions or in a commercial way".
In fact, none of the AEA's aircraft used a wing-warping system like the Wrights' for control, relying instead on triangular ailerons designed by Alexander Graham Bell, which he successfully patented in December 1911.
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