Subject: Bomber series--Huff-Daland/Keystone LB-5

From: [email-masked]
Date: 3 Jun 94 16:16:37 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The Huff-Daland LB-5 was the first of the Huff-Daland twin-engined 
biplane bombers to enter service with the US Army Air Corps.  The 
Huff-Daland/Keystone series of bombers were to be the dominant USAAC 
bombers until the advent of the monoplane era in the early 1930s.  

The Huff-Daland XLB-5 (serial number 26-208) was similar to the XLB-3A 
except for the use of a pair of conventional water-cooled 420 hp 
Liberty engines instead of the air-cooled Wasp radials of the XLB-3A 
As on the XLB-3A, the single vertical rudder of the XLB-5 was 
supplemented by a pair of smaller vertical rudders mounted outboard on 
the horizontal tailplane.  The Liberty engines were mounted on top of 
the lower wing.  A crew of five was carried: a pilot, a copilot, a 
bombardier, plus two gunners.  

The XLB-5 was a safe and reliable aircraft, and had the ability 
(unusual for the time) to fly for half an hour on one engine only.  
Impressed by this capability, the Army ordered ten production LB-5s.  
The serials were 27-335/344.  

Following the delivery of the last LB-5, the Huff-Daland company 
changed its name to Keystone.  Under the new Keystone name, the 
company delivered twenty-five LB-5As to the Army (serials 28-001/025).  
They differed from the LB-5 in having twin vertical tails rather than 
the single large rudder with two smaller rudders on each side.  

The LB-5 became known as *Pirate* by the company, although this name 
was never officially adopted by the USAAC.  

Specification of the Huff-Daland LB-5: 

Two 420 hp Liberty V-1650 liquid-cooled V-12 engines.  Maximum speed 
107 mph at sea level.  Service ceiling 8000 feet, Absolute ceiling 
8800 feet.  An altitude of 5000 feet could be attained in 20 minutes.  
Range 435 miles with 2312 pounds of bombs.  Weights: 7024 pounds 
empty, 12,155 pounds gross.  Wingspan 67 feet, length 44 feet 8 
inches, height 16 feet 10 inches, wing area 1138.7 square feet.  Two 
Lewis machine guns in an open gunner's position in the nose, two Lewis 
machine guns in an open dorsal gunner's position, one Lewis gun firing 
downward through an opening in the lower fuselage.  

Sources:

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

  American Combat Planes, Ray Wagner, Third Edition, Doubleday, 1982.

  Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation

  American Warplanes, Bill Gunston

  Plane Makers, Bill Gunston

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
263 Shuman Boulevard 		Naperville, Illinois 60566-7050