Doyle O-2 Oriole / O-3 Oriole ![]() Doyle O-2 Oriole
William Burke of the Vulcan Last Company backed the Wilson and Harvey Doyle plan to build a two-place, tandem, open-cockpit parasol sportplane and the Vulcan Aircraft Division began design work in a rented second floor room and construction in a former street car barn in Portsmouth.
The resulting Vulcan American Moth was a hit, but the relationship among the principles was deteriorating and the Doyle brothers left to start their own Doyle Aircraft Company in Baltimore. They produced fourteen Doyle Orioles which were similar to the Moth before bankruptcy ended the effort.
The prototype flew on 15 October 1928 with a yellow and black paint scheme and was priced at $2,975. Doyle Aero did not survive the Great Depression economy and ceased operations after a short production run. Harvey Doyle became an aeronautical engineer, and Wilson Doyle would become a professor of Political Science.
Seven of the O-2 Oriole and one O-3 Oriole were all built in 1928.
The last surviving O-2 serial number A-5 (NX9531) was restored in 1984 after being in storage since 1934 and identified by its designer Harvey Doyle.
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