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| XLB-3 | |
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| XLB-3A | |
| Role | Light bomber
Type of aircraft
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| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Keystone Aircraft |
| First flight | ca. December 1927 |
| Primary user | United States Army Air Corps |
| Number built | 1 |
The Keystone XLB-3 (originally built under the Huff-Daland name) was a prototype bomber biplane developed in the United States in the late 1920s. It was a twin-engine development of the single-engine LB-1, brought about by a change in policy by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
The shift from a nose-mounted engine to engines mounted in nacelles on the lower wing created an opportunity to provide stations for two extra crewmembers: a bombardier and a nose-gunner, bringing the total to five. The LB-1's single tailfin and rudder was augmented by an extra rudder either side of it.
A single prototype was constructed, and delivered to the USAAC for evaluation at the end of 1927. Evaluation, however, showed that performance was actually inferior to that of the single-engine LB-1. The decision was taken to change the XLB-3's air-cooled inverted Liberty engines for air-cooled radials, at which point it was redesignated XLB-3A. With performance still unsatisfactory, development was abandoned in favor of a parallel design, the LB-5.
Data from Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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Huff-Daland, Keystone and Keystone-Loening aircraft
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| Manufacturer designations |
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| Bombers |
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| Trainers |
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| Patrol aircraft |
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| Observation aircraft |
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| Scout aircraft |
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| Original sequences (1924–1930) |
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| Long-range Bomber (1935–1936) |
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| Tri-Service sequence (1962–current) |
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| Non-sequential |
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