Boeing Model 15

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A Boeing FB5 preserved at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The Boeing Model 15 was an open-cockpit biplane fighter manufactured by the Boeing company and which saw its primary service as the PW-9 series pursuit plane.

1 Development and production
2 Specifications (PW-9)
3 Variants
4 Operators
5 References

[edit] Development and production

The design of the Model 15 was based on studies of the Fokker D.VII, 142 of which were brought back to the United States for evaluation as part of the Armistice Agreement ending World War I. Boeing built the Model 15 in 1923 as part of a competition with the Curtiss Model 33 for contracts for a pursuit aircraft to replace the Thomas-Morse MB-3A in the U.S. Army Air Service. The Model 15 had a fuselage of welded steel tubing, while the wings were fabric on a wooden frame. The engine was a 435 hp liquid-cooled Curtiss D-12.

Ultimately both models were accepted, with the Curtiss aircraft designated PW-8 and the Model 15 designated PW-9. (The "PW" designation stood for "Pursuit, Water-cooled engine".) The Air Service preferred the PW-9, which out-performed the PW-8 in all performance aspects except speed, and was built on a more rugged and easier to maintain design, ordering 113 aircraft (only 25 PW-8s were procured). A naval version was also developed, designated FB, and 42 aircraft produced.

Deliveries of the first 25 PW-9's began in October 1925. Boeing delivered a total of 113 PW-9's of all variants including prototypes to the U.S. Army Air Corps between 1925 and February 1931. Virtually all PW-9's served with overseas units, in Hawaii with the 5th Composite Group at Luke Field and later the 18th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field, and in the Philippines with the 4th Composite Group at Clark Field, Luzon. PW-9s equipped the 3rd, 6th, and 19th Pursuit Squadrons between 1925 and 1931.

The FB-1, of which the Navy ordered ten in December 1924, was not modified for naval operations (for instance, no arresting hook), and was assigned to Marine Corps squadrons VF-1M, VF-2M, and VF-3M. Two additional planes, designated FB-2, were altered to operate on USS Langley (CV-1) with the addition of arresting gear and a straight-across axle for the landing gear. These went into service with VF-2 in December 1925. Generally satisfactory results led to an order for 27 FB-5s, which became the Navy's first fighters intended specifically for carrier operation. They were upgraded to 525 hp Packard 2A-1500 engines, and sported a row of hooks on the bottom of the axle, used to guide the plane via cables on the deck. The FB-5 first flew October 7, 1926 and was delivered to the Navy beginning in the following January, carried on barges in Puget Sound from Boeing's factory to the Langley anchored in Seattle's harbor. Hoisted aboard, their first official flights were from the carrier's deck.

[edit] Specifications (PW-9)

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General characteristics

Crew: One
Length: 23 ft 5 in (7.1 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.7 m)
Height: 8 ft 2 in (2.40 m)
Wing area: 260 ft² (24.1 m²)
Empty weight: 1,936 lb (878 kg)
Loaded weight: 3,120 lb (1,414 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Curtiss D-12 , 435 hp (315 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 159 mph (257 km/h)
Range: 390 mi (628 km)
Service ceiling: 18,925 ft (5,768 m)
Rate of climb: 1,630 ft/mn (496 m/mn)

Armament

2x 7.92 mm, one 244-lb bomb

[edit] Variants

XPW-9: Three prototypes built for Air Service evaluation
PW-9: 30 produced 1925-26, first production variant, D-12 engine
PW-9A: 24 produced 1926-27, D-12C engine
PW-9B: One built, modified PW-9A delivered as PW-9B in 1927
PW-9C: 40 produced 1927-28, D-12D engine
PW-9D: 16 produced 1928-34, final production variant
XP-4: Designation of one PW-9 (ser no. 25-324) re-engined with 510 hp Packard 1A-1500 engine
AT-3: Designation of one PW-9A (ser no. 26-374) converted to single-seat trainer with Wright-Hispano engine
FB-1: 10 built, initial Navy delivery, ground-based only
FB-2: Two FB-1s modified for carrier operation, Packard 1A engine
FB-3: One built to evaluate Packard 1A engine, float-plane model
FB-4: One built, experimental model with a 450 hp Wright P-1 radial engine
FB-5: 27 built, production version
FB-6: One built, experimental model with a 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-B Wasp engine
FB-7: Proposed version, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine, not built