Keystone B-5

The Keystone B-5 is a light bomber made by the Keystone Aircraft company for the United States Army Air Corps in the early 1930s. The B-5A was a Keystone B-3A with Wright Cyclone rather than Pratt & Whitney engines.
01Design and development
Three B-3A (LB-10A) were reengined with Wright R-1750-3 radial engines and were redesignated Y1B-5. The Army Air Corps changed the design of the last 27 LB-10As on order, replacing the Pratt & Whitney R-1690 radial engines with the Wright R-1750-3. The Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft were designated B-3A, and the Wright-powered aircraft became B-5A. They provided the backbone of the U.S. bomber force from then to 1934.
02Operational history
B-5A were first line bombers of the United States for the period between 1930 and 1934. Afterwards, they remained in service primarily as observation aircraft until the early 1940s.
03Variants
- LB-14
- Designed as LB-10 with 575 hp (429 kW) Pratt & Whitney GR-1860 engines; three ordered, but redesigned with 525 hp (392 kW) Wright R-1750-3 engines and delivered as the Y1B-5.
- Y1B-5
- Three pre-production aircraft redesignated from LB-14 before delivery.
- B-5A
- Wright R-1750-3 version originally ordered as B-3A, 27 built
04Operators
05Specifications (B-5A)
General characteristics
- Crew: 5
- Length: 48 ft 10 in (14.9 m)
- Wingspan: 74 ft 8 in (22.8 m)
- Height: 15 ft 9 in (4.8 m)
- Wing area: 1,145 sq ft (106.4 m2)
- Empty weight: 7,705 lb (3,945 kg)
- Gross weight: 12,952 lb (5,875 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1750-3 radial engines, 525 hp (392 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 111 mph (179 km/h, 97 kn)
- Cruise speed: 98 mph (160 km/h, 86 kn)
- Range: 815 mi (1,310 km, 707 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,270 m)
- Wing loading: 273.3 lb/sq ft (52.22 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.0810 hp/lb (133 W/kg)
Armament
- Guns: 3 × .30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine guns
- Bombs: 2,500 lb (1,100 kg); 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) on short runs
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Keystone B-5”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Keystone B-5A front left quarter 060421-F-1234P-017.jpg by USAF, Public domain
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.