These Early Biplanes Documented the Arctic, Captured Newsreel Footage and Witnessed Lindbergh’s Historic Flight. Now, a Rare Example Will Hang in a Museum

The Cradle of Aviation Museum recently acquired a Curtiss Oriole, three-seat biplane manufactured at a nearby Garden City factory

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

August 4, 2026 11:17 a.m.

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Aviation enthusiasts will soon be able to admire a rare, century-old aircraft on Long Island.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York, recently acquired a Curtiss Oriole, a three-seat biplane built in the 1920s. The historic aircraft arrived in pieces and is now slated to undergo a comprehensive restoration.

Once it’s been returned to its former glory, a process that officials expect to take several years, the plane will be suspended above the museum’s cafe, where it will complement a 100-foot-long mural by American aviator and artist Aline Rhonie that features an Oriole. In the meantime, officials plan to include the unrestored plane in a retrospective exhibit scheduled for next year.

By sharing the aircraft’s story, museum officials hope to inspire a new generation of visitors to explore science, technology, engineering and math.

“We’re both preserving the history for future generations and hopefully getting people excited for the future too,” Josh Stoff, museum’s curator, tells News12’s Karina Kovac.

The Oriole was produced by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Founded by pioneering aviator and entrepreneur Glenn Curtiss, the company was a leading aircraft manufacturer during World War I, best known for producing the widely used Jenny trainer biplane. After the war, the company began producing the Oriole in 1919 as part of an effort to break into the emerging civilian aviation market.

Demand for the Oriole was limited. However, the planes were given a variety of high-profile assignments, including documenting Arctic expeditions, capturing landmark aviation events and filming aerial news footage.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum already has a Curtiss C-6 engine, which powered the Oriole, in its collection. But staffers had long dreamed of adding a full plane to their collection.

“Planes like this just don't fall out of the sky,” Stoff tells Newsday’s John Valenti. “This is quite a find for us.”

Their newly acquired plane, which came from East Wenatchee, Washington, is one of just a handful of known examples in existence today. It was manufactured at the Curtiss factory in Garden City, not far from where the museum is located today.

“This is part of our ancestry,” Stoff tells Newsday, adding that he imagines the plane is “just happy to be home, back on Long Island, where it belongs.”

After being manufactured on Long Island, the plane was sent to Argentina, where museum officials say it might have contributed to early South American aerial mapping efforts.

Nearly a century of wear and tear has left its mark on the aircraft, which is made of fabric and steam-curved wood, likely spruce. The fuselage is dotted with holes, however, many of the plane’s components are still intact, including its wicker seats, wing spars and engine radiator, per News12.

Peter Truesdell, restoration manager for the museum, considers it a “very complete plane” with approximately 90 percent of its original parts, he tells Popular Science’s Mack DeGeurin.

“What’s here kind of looks ratty and old but … for its age, it actually looks to me to be in very good shape,” he tells NBC New York’s Greg Cergol.

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.