"A little moth flutters down...": Planes throughout the years
Arthur Malcolm Mushlian had a fondness for airplanes and took photos of dozens of the aircraft he encountered throughout the years. In the pages below, Arthur highlighted some of the more unique planes he came across on his travels, noting their pilots, their passengers, and, occasionally, their owners.
He also managed to capture some of the plane crashes he witnessed over the years, including major events such as the Cambria crash landing in the Toronto bay in 1937.
Here, Arthur jokes about a "moth" flying down out of season. A "moth" refers to the plane seen featured in these photos, which is a de Hallivard Tiger Moth biplane.
This page features a series of photos showing wrecked planes Arthur had seen throughout the years.
Another collection ot planes landing on the water, delivering bags of mail, or patiently awaiting their next expedition.
A rear view of the Camrbia crash landing.
The Cambria following repairs.
This set of photos shows the crash landing of the G-ADUV Cambria flying boat plane, one of the S.23 "Empire" flying boats produced by and used by Imperial Airways in the late 1930s.
The Cambria landed on the waters at Toronto on September 3rd, 1937. Note how the photograph shows the crew sitting on the wing of the Cambria, attempting to balance the weight of the plane as it leans on its side.
The second page in this set (page 82) shows the Cambria being towed away for repairs. Arthur makes sure to show the plane repaired on the final page of this set (page 83), ready to take off again for Ireland.
The first page of this set of photographs shows the Canadian Airways CF-ARM outside of Sherrit Gordon Mine in Sherridon, Manitoba.
The second page features snapshots of various planes in the snowy expanses of Knee Lake and God's Lake, Manitoba, as well as featuring Dave Harding in Long Lac, Ontario. Dave Harding was, as per Arthur's caption, a Captain in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He can be seen third from the left, gassing up his plane before take-off.
The final pages feature some fun photos of plane crews on the ice of Little Long Lac, Ontario, a man shoved in with the freight of a plane, and the private plane of Jack Hammel landed next to a dock. Jack Hammel was mine developer who was famous for using aircraft to airlift supplies into the far north during the cold winters of Northern Ontario, particularly in Red Lake, Ontario. Hammel would be inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 1991.
In this set of photos, Arthur highlights some of the different types of planes he has encountered, including the Fokker Universal aircraft, which was popular in its time for being compatible with northern Canadian travel.
He also makes note of Bishop Alfred Dewdney of Keewatin, who was Bishop from 1921-1938.
In 1931, Arthur spent a few years in Red Lake and caught the first plane landing after freeze-up in 1931. It was obviously quite the event, as evidenced by the crowd surrounding the plane on page 94, photo 1.
E.W. "Ted" Stull is also featured in these photos. Ted was a Canadian bush pilot who made frequent trips to the northern communities, frequenting destinations similar to Arthur's travels, such as God's Lake, Manitoba and Red Lake, Ontario.
The wreckage of a Fairchild 71 aircraft in Savant Lake, Ontario.
The page was found detached from the rest of the photo album, and features some of the float planes, passenger planes, and other travellers Arthur met while working.
This page includes Fairchild 72s that Arthur frequently encountered, as mentioned in his captions that place him in Hudson, Ontario, God's Lake, Manitoba, and Alaska.
This photos also show the private plane of Manitoba Premier, John Bracken. John Bracken was the Premier from 1922 to 1943, and later became the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.