P-26 Peashooter

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P-26 "Peashooter"
Type Fighter
Manufacturer Boeing
Maiden flight 20 March 1932
Retired 1957 (Guatemala)
Primary users U.S. Army Air Corps
Philippine AAC
Guatemalan Air Force
Number built 162
Variants Boeing P-29/XF7B-1

The Boeing P-26, nicknamed the "Peashooter", was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. The prototype first flew in 1932, and were used as late as 1941 in the Philippines.

Contents

[edit] Design and development

The Boeing-funded project to produce the Boeing Model 248 began in September 1931, with the Army Air Corps supplying engines and instruments. The design included an open cockpit, fixed landing gear, and externally-braced wings. The Army Air Corps contracted for three prototypes, designated XP-936, with the first flight on 20 March 1932.

The Boeing XP-936 had a landing problem. Sometimes when landing it would flip forward and because of the short nose it would roll onto its back. This injured many pilots until the unarmored back canopy was replaced with an armored headrest.

Boeing then received an order for 111 of the production version (Model 266), officially designated P-26A, which included an improved wing structure and a radio. The first production P-26A flew on 10 January 1934, and the last of the production run was delivered in June. An additional 25 aircraft were completed as P-26B with Pratt & Whitney R-1340-33 Wasp engines, and 23 P-26C had minor changes to carburation and the fuel system. Both Spain (one fighter) and China (11 fighters) ordered the Model 281 export version of the P-26C in 1936.

Boeing P-26s in nine-aircraft formation flight, 20th Fighter Group. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Boeing P-26s in nine-aircraft formation flight, 20th Fighter Group. (U.S. Air Force photo)

[edit] Operational history

Deliveries to USAC pursuit squadrons began in December 1933 with the last plane in the series, designated P-26C, coming off the assembly line in 1936. Although the diminutive "Peashooter" as it became affectionally known by service pilots, was faster than previous American combat aircraft, it was also an anchronism. Although the P-26 introduced a modern monoplane design, worldwide fighter aircraft developments soon outstripped the P-26 with its open cockpit, fixed undercarriage and externally braced wing. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 which had its maiden flight in 1935 was much more representative of contemporary monoplane fighter designs. However, the P-26 was easy to fly and remained in active service for many years until the United States entered World War II.

The first Boeing P-26 to experience combat was the Chinese Model 281. On 20 August 1937, eight of the Boeing fighters engaged six G3M2 Japanese bombers as they carried out a raid on Nanking airport and shot them down without suffering any losses. By November 1940, the US Army's entire fighter strength in the Philippines consisted of only 28 P-26s. Most of these were destroyed on the ground in the first Japanese attacks following Pearl Harbor, but two of them, flown by Philippino pilots, scored victories over Japanese airplanes. In 1942, in a desperate defence of their homeland, the few surviving P-26s which 6th Fighter Squadron of the newly constituted Philippine Army Air Force had at its disposal, were completely overwhelmed by Japanese Zero fighters. Soon after, the USAAC took the P-26 out of frontline service.

Following Pearl Harbor, only nine P-26s remained airworthy in the Panama Canal Zone. In 1942-1943, the Fuerza Aerea de Guatemala acquired seven P-26s ostensibly by the US government smuggling them in as "Boeing PT-26A" trainers to get around restrictions of sales to Latin American countries. [1]The last P-26 in service was still flying until 1957 with Guatemala's Air Force.

The P-26 was the last Boeing fighter to enter service until the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in 2002. Between those aircraft, Boeing did produce the experimental XF8B in 1944 as well as the prototype YF-22 in 1991.

[edit] Survivors

A Boeing P-26A peashooter, preserved in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
A Boeing P-26A peashooter, preserved in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Two original P-26s are known to exist. One is in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, while the other has been owned for many years by the Planes of Fame Museum located in Chino, California. Once flown regularly, the museum's P-26 was placed on static display in the mid 1980s to protect it. In 2004, the decision was made to again fly the P-26, and a restoration was begun to return the plane to flying condition. This was completed in spring 2006, with the aircraft having made its first appearances at the museum's May 2006 airshow. A replica P-26 is also on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In addition, Mayocraft Inc., completed final assembly in September 2006 and has now begun taxi-testing a [2] a near-100 percent scale tribute to the Boeing P-26.

[edit] Operators

Operators of the P-26.
Operators of the P-26.

[edit] Specifications (P-26A)

Data from Aviation-history.com[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 23 ft 7 in (7.18 m)
  • Wingspan: 27 ft 12 in (8.50 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.04 m)
  • Wing area: ft² (m²)
  • Empty weight: 2,196 lb (996 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 3,360 lb (1,524 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-7 "Wasp" radial engine, 600 hp (440 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 234 mph (203 knots, 377 km/h) at 6,000 ft (1,800 m)
  • Combat radius: 360 mi (310 nm, 580 km)
  • Ferry range: 635 mi (550 nm, 1,020 km)
  • Service ceiling: 27,400 (8,350 m)

Armament

  • Guns: 2× .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns
  • Bombs: 1× 200 lb (90 kg) bomb

    [edit] References

    1. ^ Baugher, Joe. Boeing P-26. [1] Access date: 17 March 2007.
    2. ^ P-26 Projects. Moyocraft [2] Access date: 17 March 2007.
    3. ^ "Boeing P-26 Peashooter." The Aviation History On-Line Museum. The Aviation Internet Group, ©2002. [3] Access date:1 July 2006.
    • Pedigree of Champions: Boeing Since 1916, Third Edition. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company, 1969.

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