1919 Curtiss Oriole “Kristine”

In early 1922 the Norwegian Arctic/Antarctic explorer Roald Amundsen traveled to the USA and decided to try to purchase an aircraft good enough for Antarctic conditions. He decided on a Curtiss Oriole which Glenn H Curtiss gave to him to be used with an Arctic exploration. A 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine powered it. It was faster than any other plane of its power and carrying capacity and would be used for short reconnaissance flights from Amundson’s exploration vessel named “Maud”. The Oriole was equipped with skis and named the “Kristine”.

Century Aviation was contacted by representatives from Tandberg Eiendom and its project group Maud Returns Home. Their project is to return the hull of the Maud which lies in a bay in Hudson Bay to a museum which is being built to highlight the explorations of Road Amundsen. They also wanted a restored Curtiss Oriole to represent “Kristine”. We are starting with the original parts of Orioles that we have such as fuselages, landing gear, wings, tail feathers (in various states of repair) and are manufacturing all the missing parts. At the completion of the contract Kristine will be disassembled and shipped to her new home just south of Oslo.

Please keep up with the Maud Returns Home project on their website www.maudreturnshome.no as summer returns to the Hudson Bay and the next phase starts.