The Keystone LB-5 (originally ordered under the Huff-Daland name) was a bomber aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s. Its manufacturer nicknamed it the Pirate, but this name was not officially adopted by the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

(USAAC).

Design and development

The LB-5 was a member of the family of closely related bomber designs that had debuted with the XLB-1 in 1923, and as such, was a large, single-bay, conventional biplane. Like most of the family, it was a twin-engine machine, with engines mounted in

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

s on the lower wing. The prototype XLB-5 had a single tail fin like the XLB-1, the 10 LB-5 production machines were designed with a triple-finned tail under the Huff-Daland name, but the final batch of 25 was redesigned with twin tails and designated LB-5A.

Operational history

Its Liberty L-12 engines featured duralumin adjustable-pitch propellers built by the Standard Steel Propeller Company of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, (forerunner of the

Hamilton Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...

Propeller Company). At least nine tests of

tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials t ...

were made of its propeller blades between 1925 and 1927, one of which reported failure after 34 hours of flying time and 10 hours of testing.Miller, Dr. Roger G. "Four 'Caterpillars' and a funeral documents on the crash of the Huff-Daland XLB-5." ''Air Power History,'' Fall 2002. On 28 May 1927, while at 1,200 ft altitude near

Reynoldsburg, Ohio Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The population was 41,076 at the 2020 census. History Reynoldsburg was origina ...

, the XLB-5 prototype (AC serial 26-208) experienced catastrophic failure of its right engine when a blade separated from the hub with explosive power, tearing the engine apart.

Shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

sprayed the five-man crew, which included 2nd Bombardment Group commander Major Lewis H. Brereton, flying co-pilot, and all except the nosegunner immediately parachuted. The nosegunner died in the crash, and the gasoline-soaked wreckage subsequently exploded and burned on the ground.

Variants

* XLB-5 – Prototype (1 built from LB-1) with single tail fin * LB-5 – first production batch with triple tail fins (10 built) * LB-5A – second production batch with twin tails (25 built)

Operators

; *

Specifications (LB-5)

Keystone XLB-5 3-view L'Air February 15,1928

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 559. * ''World Aircraft Information Files''. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 899 Sheet 09.

External links

National Museum of the USAF XLB-5 fact sheet

National Museum of the USAF LB-5 fact sheet

National Museum of the USAF LB-5A fact sheet

{{USAF bomber aircraft

LB-5 The Keystone LB-5 (originally ordered under the Huff-Daland name) was a bomber aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s. Its manufacturer nicknamed it the Pirate, but this name was not officially adopted by the United States Army ...

Light bombers Keystone LB-5