Curtiss Oriole

The Curtiss Oriole, also known by the company as the Model 17, was an American three-seat biplane built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company as a general-purpose aircraft in the years after the First World War. Its fuselage was a laminated wood monocoque, and it was powered by either the Curtiss OX-5 V-8 or the Curtiss K-6 engine. It had a self-starter and a tall thin radiator that sat in the pilot's field of view. Surplus Oriole wings were sold to Harold Pitcairn, who used them to build the first production Pitcairn aircraft, the PA-3 Orowing. Northwest Airlines was founded in 1926 flying an Oriole on the Minneapolis to Chicago airmail route, and Admiral Byrd chose one as a second aircraft for his 1926 Arctic expedition. An Oriole is displayed at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York.