Keystone Aircraft

Keystone Aircraft Corporation was an early pioneer in airplane manufacturing. Headquartered in Bristol, Pennsylvania, it was formed as Ogdensburg Aeroway Corp in 1920 by Thomas Huff and Elliot Daland, but its name was quickly changed to Huff-Daland Aero Corp, then to the Huff-Daland Aero Company. The company made a name for itself in agricultural aircraft, and then in the United States Army Air Corps' early bomber aircraft. From 1924, James McDonnell was the chief designer.

In 1926, Huff left the company, and it was soon purchased by Hayden, Stone & Co., who increased capital to $1 million (United States) and renamed it Keystone.^[1] In 1928, it merged with Loening and was known as Keystone-Loening. In 1929, it was taken over by Curtiss-Wright. Also in 1929, the Keystone- Loening plant on the East River in New York City was closed by Curtis- Wright and the operation was moved to the Bristol, Pa. Keystone plant. A small band of the top Loening management, design and shop workers (all New Yorkers) did not want to go to Bristol. They instead started their own aircraft company in a small rented shop in Baldwin, NY in Jan. 1930. The principal players were Leroy R. Grumman, Leon "Jake" Swirbul and William Schwendler. Grumman Aircraft went on to stellar heights with some of the top Naval aircraft in Navy history. Grumman also designed and built the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) that landed US astronauts on the moon. Keystone itself became a manufacturing division of Curtiss-Wright and ceased production in 1932.^[2]

Lieut. Comdr. Noel Davis and Lieut. Stanton H. Wooster were killed in their Keystone Pathfinder American Legion while conducting a test flight, just days before they were to attempt a trans-Atlantic flight for the Orteig Prize.

Aircraft Models

• Huff-Daland TA-6, TW-5, AT-1, AT-2 biplane observation/trainers (1923-1925)
• Huff-Daland XB-1 Twin-engine experimental military bomber biplane (1927)
• Keystone PK-1 flying boat, a licence-produced PN-12
• Keystone XO-15 observation aircraft, cancelled (1920s)
• Keystone XLB-3 light bomber aircraft, (1927)
• Keystone LB-5 Twin-engine twin-tail series of light bomber biplanes, 60 produced 1927-1929
  • Keystone LB-6
• Keystone B-3A/B-4A/B-5A/B-6A Twin-engine single-tail series of bomber biplanes, 127 produced 1930-1933
  • Keystone B-4
  • Keystone B-5
  • Keystone B-6
• Keystone K-47 Pathfinder Three-engine airliner biplane (1927)
• Keystone K-55 Pronto (1928)
• Keystone K-78 Patrician Three-engine airliner (1929)
• Keystone-Loening K-84 Commuter Single-engine amphibious biplane (1929)
• Keystone-Loening K-85 Air Yacht Single-engine amphibious biplane (1929)
• Keystone NK Naval biplane trainer (1928)
• Keystone PK Twin-engine amphibious biplane (1930)

References

1. ↑ Geoff Jones. Delta Air Lines: 75 Years of Airline Excellence. p. 10. 
2. ↑ Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Keystone Aircraft.

• Aerofiles