[1] Brothers Harvey and Wilson Doyle designed the Vulcan American Moth Monoplane in 1928.

[2] They left the Vulcan Aircraft Company after a disagreement with its founder and moved to Baltimore Maryland with backing from Lawyer Charles Baldwin.

They set to work on a new monoplane, with test pilot Otto Melamet flying the prototype O-2 Oriole on 15 October 1928.

The O-2 is a parasol wing, conventional landing gear, strut-braced, tandem-seat, open cockpit, sport aircraft.

[3] Serial number 2 and 3 were wrecked en route to the All-American airshow in Detroit to demonstrate the aircraft.