Curtiss Oriole

The Oriole fuselage was constructed using laminated wood to form a monocoque body and was powered by either the Curtiss OX-5 V-8 or the Curtiss K-6 engine. The aircraft featured a self-starter and a tall thin radiator in the pilot's field of view.{{cite web|title=Chaplin Airlines|url=http://www.americahurrah.com/California/LosAngeles/chaplin2.html|accessdate=18 January 2011}}{{cite journal|journal=Aerial Age|date=15 March 1920|page=11}}

Surplus Curtiss Oriole wings were sold to Harold Pitcairn to manufacture the first production Pitcairn aircraft, the Pitcairn PA-3 Orowing.

Northwest Airlines was founded on August 1, 1926, flying a Curtiss Oriole and a Thomas Morse Biplane on the CAM-9 Airmail route from Minneapolis to Chicago.{{cite web|title=Northwest Curtiss Oriole|url=http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac3/Airline/Northwest%20Curtiss%20Oriole.html|accessdate=18 January 2011}}

Admiral Byrd selected a Curtiss Oriole as second aircraft for his 1926 Arctic Expedition to the North Pole with a Fokker F.VII. The Oriole was planned to be used for photography and rescue work. The New York times reported (falsely) that the Oriole was shipped on the steamer Chantier in case the Fokker was unavailable.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=BYRD WILL CARRY A CURTISS ORIOLE; Three-Passenger Plane to Be Taken on Polar Trip in Case Big Fokker Fails. LOADING TO START TODAY Chantier Goes to Navy Yard to Take On Final Cargo in Readiness for Monday's Sailing|date=April 2, 1926}} However the Oriole never was planned as a backup to the Fokker. It did not have the range to fly nonstop from Spitzbergen to the North Pole and back.

A leased Curtiss Oriole was deployed by the 109th Observation Squadron in 1921. The aircraft was flown to Washington D.C. to lobby for Minnesota Air Guard funding.{{cite web|title=The Minnesota Air National Guard|url=http://www.mnangmuseum.org/exhibits/oriole.html|accessdate=18 January 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307121119/http://www.mnangmuseum.org/exhibits/oriole.html|archivedate=7 March 2011}}

One Curtiss Oriole were sold to Brazilian Naval Aviation in 1926.

Syd (brother of Charlie) Chaplin Air Line used Curtiss Oriole(s) for its one year of operation in 1920.

Igor Sikorsky offered a kit to replace the lower wings with a smaller pair with less drag-producing struts and wires. One example with this modification and a 150 hp Hispano-Suiza upgrade, was entered in the 1927 National Air Races. Before the races, the engine was upgraded again to a Hispano-Suiza 220 hp engine, which overwhelmed the cooling system with metal shavings, causing the aircraft to drop out of the race.{{cite journal|journal=Experimenter|date=April 1957}}

The Ireland Comet was a rebuilt Curtiss Oriole with new flying surfaces, including a single-bay high-lift wing.{{cite web|last= Eyre|first=David C.|title=Ireland Comet

|url=https://aeropedia.com.au/content/ireland-comet/|date=8 May 2019|access-date=17 June 2022}}

File:Curtiss Museum Oriole.jpg

• An Oriole is on static display at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York.{{cite web |title=Aircraft |url=http://glennhcurtissmuseum.org/aircraft.php |website=Glenn H. Curtiss Museum |accessdate=14 December 2019 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613151729/https://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/aircraft.php |url-status=dead }}
• Reproduction – Oriole on static display at the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.{{cite web |title=CURTISS ORIOLE |url=http://mnangmuseum.org/exhibits/curtiss-oriole |website=Minnesota Air National Guard Museum |accessdate=14 December 2019 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528235732/http://mnangmuseum.org/exhibits/curtiss-oriole/ |url-status=dead }}
• In storage at the Fantasy of Flight, in Polk City, Florida.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}
• Three in storage at Century Aviation in East Wenatchee, Washington.{{cite web |title=1919 Curtiss Oriole 'Kristine' |url=http://century-aviation.com/essential_grid/1919-curtiss-oriole-kristine |website=Century Aviation |accessdate=14 December 2019}}{{Failed verification|date=December 2019}}

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947Bowers 1979, p. 176.

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|gross weight lb=2036

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|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Curtiss OX-5

|eng1 type=water-cooled V-8 engine

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|range miles=582

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|ceiling ft=8000

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{{aircontent

|see also=

|related=

|similar aircraft=

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}}

• Curtiss Jenny
• Curtiss Robin

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last= Bowers|first= Peter M|authorlink=Peter M. Bowers |title=Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947|year=1979|publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn= 0-370-10029-8}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Hagedorn|first=Dan|title=Curtiss Types in Latin America|magazine=Air Enthusiast|date=March–May 1992|issue=45 |pages=61–77 |issn=0143-5450}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Curtiss Oriole}}

{{Curtiss aircraft}}

{{Robertson aircraft}}

Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft

Oriole

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1919

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear