I found these vintage airplane photographs while browsing the Toronto Archives this past weekend. The images contain a lot of interesting characters from our city’s past. The photo below is of aviator Bert Acosta. Acosta in an American aviator from San Diego who was in Toronto briefly to teach the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. He set numerous airspeed and endurance records and, in 2014, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
Browse the images and let us know what interesting stories you find.
Aviator Bert Acosta prepares to take William James Sr. up in airplane, Leaside. – 1916 – photograph taken just before William James Sr. took the first movies from the air in Canada. Other subjects include F.G. Ericson (in checkered cap) and head of construction Sir Frank Baillie (right) – Vintage Airplane PhotographsLockheed Vega airplane. – 1929W. Gallagher of the Toronto Flying Club with a Gypsy Moth airplane. – 1929J.A.D. McCurdy’s bi-plane with 7-cylinder Gnome rotary engine, and that the event is probably either the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911, or the Aviation Meet, Hamilton, July 27-29, 1911.J.A.D. McCurdy’s bi-plane with 7-cylinder Gnome rotary engine, and that the event is probably either the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911, or the Aviation Meet, Hamilton, July 27-29, 1911.photograph of an airplane in flight. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably a Curtiss-type Pusher bi-plane with inset ailerons and rotary engine, flown by Charles F. Willard, and that the event may be the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911.photograph of an airplane in flight over a crowd. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably a Curtiss-type Pusher bi-plane with inset ailerons and rotary engine, flown by Charles F. Willard, and that the event is probably the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911.Airplane in flight. – [ca. 1919]Airplane taking off. – 1910 – photograph of an airplane taking off. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably a Curtiss-type Pusher bi-plane with inset ailerons and rotary engine, flown by Charles F. Willard, and that the event is probably either the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911, or the Aviation Meet, Hamilton, July 27-29, 1911.Aviator Bert Acosta prepares to take William James Sr. up in airplane, Leaside. – 1916 – photograph taken just before William James Sr. took the first movies from the air in Canada. Other subjects include F.G. Ericson (in checkered cap) and head of construction Sir Frank Baillie (right). – photograph . Baillie was the head of airplane construction. The pilot is Bert Acosta. The plane is a Jenny JN4.Bleriot monoplane. – 1910 – photograph of an airplane. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably Count Jacques de Lesseps’ Bleriot IX mono-plane with 3-cylinder Anzani engine, named Scarabee, and that the event is probably the Ontario Motor League Aviation Meet held at Trethewey Model Farm, Weston, July 8-16, 1910.Captain Earl Hand and his Buhl Airsedan airplane. – 1928Captain Earl Hand in front of plane, close. – May 8, 1930Charles F. Willard sitting in plane. – [1910?]Cirrus Moth airplane . – 1929 – photograph. A note says it was the first plane to arrive at Thorncliffe Racetrack for the TFC meet.Clare Wallace and group broadcasting from inside Trans-Canada Airlines airplaneClare Wallace and pilots inside Trans-Canada Airlines airplaneColumbia Triad amphibian plane. – April 28, 1930Count Jacques de Lesseps with plane . – 1910 – photograph of a man standing in front of an airplane. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably a Bleriot IX mono-plane with 3-cylinder Anzani engine, named Scarabee, and that the event is probably the Ontario Motor League Aviation Meet held at Trethewey Model Farm, Weston, July 8-16, 1910.Curtis Jenny JN4 airplane doing stunts at Willowdale Flax Festival. – 1919 – photograph possibly taken at Jack Elliott’s property in Willowdale.Curtiss Jenny JN-4 airplane, Long Branch. – January, 1917 – photograph of an airplane made by Can. Aeroplanes Ltd.Fairchild FC-2 plane carrying first air mail from Leaside. – May 5, 1928First airplane crash at Weston. – 1911Fred G. Ells in bi-plane. – 1912Globe and Mail Airplane, Island AirportGypsy Moth airplane. – [ca. 1929] – photograph. A note says the plane is sister to the one presented by Sir Chas. Wakefield, ex-mayor of London, to Toronto Flying Club.Gypsy Moth airplane in field. – 1929 – photograph probably taken at a farm in Whitby.Gypsy Moth airplane in field. – 1929 – photograph probably taken at a farm in Whitby.Indian Treaty flight, Captain Roy Maxwell paddling plane. – June 25, 1929J.A.D. McCurdy sitting in airplane. – 1911 – photograph of a man sitting in an airplane. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the man is probably J.A.D. McCurdy in a bi-plane with 7-cylinder Gnome rotary engine, and that the event is probably either the Ontario Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911, or the Aviation Meet, Hamilton, July 27-29, 1911.Jenny JN4 airplane. – [ca. 1916] – photograph taken at either Long Branch or Leaside.Junkens J.I. airplane at CNE. – 1919 – photograph. The plane is now in the National Aviation Museum, Ottawa.Leaside airdrome, moth plane G-CAVF in flight, one other. – April 10, 1929Leaside airdrome, plane, car, group. – September 4, 1929Leaside airdrome, planes and J.H. Boyd Dodge car. – April 10, 1929Lincoln Beachey’s airplane. – 1910 – photograph of men examining an airplane. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably Lincoln Beachey’s Curtiss-type Pusher bi-plane with 8-cylinder Curtiss V-8 engine and no forward control surfaces, and that the event is probably the Buffalo Aero Club Aviation Meet, Fort Erie, Ontario, June 20-24, 1911.Lincoln Beachey’s airplane. – 1910 – photograph of men examining an airplane. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably Lincoln Beachey’s Curtiss-type Pusher bi-plane with 8-cylinder Curtiss V-8 engine and no forward control surfaces, and that the event is probably the Buffalo Aero Club Aviation Meet, Fort Erie, Ontario, June 20-24, 1911. The man with his arms folded is Frank H. Ellis, author of Canada’s Flying Heritage.Man working on McCurdy’s plane. – 1910 – photograph of a man working on an airplane engine. Information provided by a researcher indicates that it is probably J.A.D. McCurdy’s bi-plane with 7-cylinder Gnome rotary engine, and that the event is probably either the Aviation Meet held at Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911, or the Aviation Meet, Hamilton, July 27-29, 1911.Men inspecting wreckage of first Toronto airplane crash. – 1911 – photograph of an airplane crashed on the ground. Information provided by a researcher indicates that it is probably a bi-plane with 7-cylinder Gnome rotary engine, flown by J.A.D. McCurdy, and that the event is probably the Aviation Meet, Donlands Farm, Todmorden Mills, August 3-5, 1911.Nat Turofsky (right) next to airplaneNat Turofsky next to airplane
Pilot in Curtiss JN-4 airplane. – 1918Plane christening, Neekah coming up runway. – July 15, 1929Putting gasoline in T.C. MacCauley’s Curtiss F flyboat. – 1915 – photograph. The airplane may have been called the Maple Leaf.Ralph Johnstone flying box kite airplane. – July, 1910 – photograph of an airplane in flight. Information provided by a researcher indicates that the airplane is probably a 1909 Model A (Transitional) bi-plane flown by Ralph Johnstone of the Wright Exhibition Company, and that the event is probably the Ontario Motor League Aviation Meet held at Trethewey Model Farm, Weston, July 8-16, 1910.TCA Trans Ocean Airlines airplane carrying immigrants on runway, Malton airportTrans-Canada Airlines airplane on runwayU.S. Army Ford tri-motor airplane, Leaside. – 1928View of the Avenger plane at Malton airport – June 9, 1957
![Airplane in flight. - [ca. 1919]](https://torontoguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Airplane-in-flight.jpg)
![Charles F. Willard sitting in plane. - [1910?]](https://torontoguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Charles-F.-Willard-sitting-in-plane.jpg)
![Gypsy Moth airplane. - [ca. 1929] - photograph. A note says the plane is sister to the one presented by Sir Chas. Wakefield, ex-mayor of London, to Toronto Flying Club.](https://torontoguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Gypsy-Moth-airplane.jpg)
![Jenny JN4 airplane. - [ca. 1916] - photograph taken at either Long Branch or Leaside.](https://torontoguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Jenny-JN4-airplane.jpg)
![Toronto Winter Photographs Iceboats, Toronto Bay. - [between 1906 and 1910] - photograph of three iceboats racing a car (not shown) on frozen Toronto Bay.](https://torontoguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Iceboats-Toronto-Bay-1906-1910-326x245.jpg)
