Monday, Feb. 27, 1928

Stop-Gap

Peaceable citizens had never seen such an airplane as swooped into Washington last week from the Keystone Aircraft factory at Bristol, Pa. They called it a "Pirate"--a burly biplane of bombs and crossed guns, with two Liberty engines to drive a crew of five and a 5,300-lb. munitions load through the air at 90 m.p.h. Made for the Army to drop destruction from, with cruising radii of 500 mi., ten "Pirates" have been ordered for Langley Field, Va., five for Panama, five for Hawaii, five for the Philippines.

Army air officials said they were "greatly impressed" by the first Pirate. But, they explained, the Pirate type, murderous as it looks, is only "intended as a stop-gap until we' obtain heavier and even more advanced bombers of types such as recently have been tested ... at Wright Field."*

* For bomb-plane plans of foreign countries see INTERNATIONAL.