Keystone Pronto on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Keystone K-55 Pronto was a
aerofiles.com
{{Keystone aircraft 1920s United States mailplanes
mail plane
A mail plane is an aircraft used for carrying mail.
Aircraft that were purely mail planes existed almost exclusively prior to World War II. Because early aircraft were too underpowered to carry cargoes, and too costly to run any "economy class" ...
developed in the United States in the late 1920s.
Design and development
The Pronto was a conventional single-bay, unequal-span biplane design with slightly staggered wings. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, in tandem with a second cockpit that could carry two passengers side-by-side. The fixed, tailskid undercarriage had divided main units. A number of these aircraft were purchased by the government of Peru. Operated by the aviation arm of the Peruvian Navy, these aircraft initiated the first airmail service into the Peruvian Amazon. The first flight of this service was made by two Prontos, piloted by Leonardo Alvariño Herr and Harold B. Grow fromLima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
to San Ramón on 26 October 1927.
At least one Peruvian Pronto was fitted with pontoons and used to survey the Amazon River for locations suitable for seaplane operations.
In the Colombia-Peru War one Peruvian K-55 flown by Lieutenant Suero was captured by the Colombian Army.
Operators
; * Peruvian NavySpecifications
References
Further reading
*External links
aerofiles.com
{{Keystone aircraft 1920s United States mailplanes
Pronto
Pronto, stylized as PRONTO, is the second-generation contactless payment system for automated fare collection on public transit services in San Diego County, California. The system is managed by the San Diego Association of Governments, operat ...
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1927