The Keystone XOK was an American biplane observation

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

developed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the early 1930s.

Design and development

In 1929, the Navy issued requirements calling for an observation floatplane intended for service aboard Omaha class light cruisers, readily convertible to wheels or floats and light enough to operate from the cruiser-type catapult. Prototypes were ordered from

Keystone-Loening Keystone Aircraft Corporation was an early American airplane manufacturer. History Headquartered in Bristol, Pennsylvania, the company was formed as "Ogdensburg Aeroway Corp" in 1920 by Thomas Huff and Elliot Daland, but its name was quickly ...

(then a subsidiary of

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

Berliner-Joyce Berliner-Joyce Aircraft was an American aircraft manufacturer. History The company was founded on the February 4, 1929, when Henry Berliner and his 1922 company, Berliner Aircraft Company of Alexandria, Virginia, joined with Maryland Aviation ...

and

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought Ai ...

, and designated as the XOK-1, XOJ-1 and XO4U-1 respectively. The Keystone design was a conventional

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

of mixed metal and fabric construction, with the pilot and observer seated in tandem in open cockpits. It made its first flight on January 5, 1931. On April 15, 1931, during a demonstration before naval officials, the XOK-1 broke up in flight after the cowling detached itself and smashed into the wings and tailplane. With the Berliner-Joyce and Vought prototypes nearly ready for trials, the

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...

elected to discontinue further development of the XOK-1. Eventually, the Berliner-Joyce's entry was selected for production.

Operators

; *

Specifications (XOK-1)

References

;Citations

External links

Keystone XOK-1 photograph.
{{USN observation aircraft Keystone aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Floatplanes 1930s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1931

Design and development

Operators

Specifications (XOK-1)

See also

References

External links