Odd Keystone passenger trimotor

Keystone made a number of bombers during the 1920s before the company's demise, so it's possible that this type might have seen at least limited service. Next time I go to the library, I'll check out the late-1920s Jane's for further details.

bomber:

> Did these ever see service?

It's a Keystone K-78.

K-78, -78D Patrician 1929 (ATC 260, 2-85, 2-350, 2-354) = 21pChwM; three

525hp Wright Cyclone; span: 86'5" length: 61'7" load: 6376# v: 148/120/60 range: 480-550. $85,000; POP: 3; 1 K-78 [NX7962], and 2 K-78D [NX=NC98N, NC10N] with extensive design modifications. (2-350) specific to [NC98N] in 1931 as a Wright Corp executive plane. Load-carrying record set in 1929, in which it was reported that "33 girls, two pilots, and a mechanic were carried to 10,200' in 25 minutes"?a payload of 4600#.

Photo

Looks like the Keystone K-78 although the cockpit area is slightly different than the photos of the actual aircraft. Perhaps an artist's error or perhaps the drawing is of the prototype and not the "production" aircraft.

Three were built - one prototype K-78 and two "production" K-78Ds[1].

Never in actual passenger service although used for route testing and as an executive aircraft. Lindbergh did some demonstration flying for TAT in one of the K-78Ds.

[1] Or, perhaps, the original K-78 prototype was reworked to K-78D standards and there were only two K-78s. Sources differ.

Cheers,

bomber:

>> Did these ever see service?

Ah, the founding ceremonies for the Mile-High Club!

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

It's supposed to be a 40 passenger civilian transport, although I've never seen on one in commercial transport colors.

Pat

Much better than either the Ford or Fokker trimotor from a areodynamic point of view, and better passenger capacity as well. Why didn't she see widespread commercial service in the pre-DC-2/ Boeing

247 days?

Pat

This is taking the thread a little off-topic, but maybe easier than a new thread. I recently picked up a vacuform Stinson Tri-Motor which did see service, and a local museum has one, so I can get lots of photos.

The vacuform engines, of course, are not adequate. It used Lycoming radials. I do not see any of these in Engines and things. I DO see a small Jacobs radial and think that is likely to be the closest resin engine I can find.

Is anyone aware of a 1:72 scale Lycoming 640 radial in resin, or what would folks think would be the closest to that.

Robert's Models has/had a nine cylinder Lycoming if you can track those down.TomOn Mar 17, 7:32=A0am, Don Stauffer in Minnesota wrote:> On Mar 15, 3:54 am, Pat Flannery wrote:> > > Never saw this one before, which looks like some sort of 1930's French> > bomber:

>

Did these ever see service?> > > Pat> > This is taking the thread a little off-topic, but maybe easier than a> new thread. I recently picked up a vacuform Stinson Tri-Motor which> did see service, and a local museum has one, so I can get lots of> photos.> > The vacuform engines, of course, are not adequate. It used Lycoming> radials. I do not see any of these in Engines and things. I DO see a> small Jacobs radial and think that is likely to be the closest resin> engine I can find.> > Is anyone aware of a 1:72 scale Lycoming 640 radial in resin, or what> would folks think would be the closest to that.