Boeing P-26A Peashooter

Even before the completion of the tests XP-936 with the USAAC decided to order serial production of the modified form. 7. November 1932 issued a specification for a modified fighter based on the Model 248, and 11. January 1933, the USAAC ordered 111 units of the new Boeing Model 266 under the designation P-26A. Soon after the order was raised to 136, additional machines were completed as P-26B and P-26C. The first P-26A flew on 10. January 1934, the last of the original 111 aircraft were delivered to 30. June 1934. The result of the largest orders since the time of MB-3A was the price of one machine without the engine and military equipment 9999 dollars, even lower than the price for P-12E, which the P-26A was substituted in the service and which cost 10 $ 197.


In addition to the exchange of the engine for a later version of the P-26A from the outside from the prototypes differed less "slippers", which now they do not interfere for the hood struts, and wings, which had a different internal structure, and the ends of the wings were now elliptical, which led to a greater margin, but slightly smaller bearing area. On the right side of the bow added a radio antenna. Slightly higher was also back with headrest. 22. February 1934 Lt. Frederick Even. Patrick of 20. fighter squadron on the machine 33-46 during an emergency landing at Barksdale Field, turned over on his back -the machine has almost nothing happened, the pilot but broke his neck. The result was that all machines were behind the cabin of the first U-shaped profile, which back still increased, and was later developed by a completely new saddle, higher by 20.3 cm. Machine from now 33-56 up given a new spine is already in production, she the other was added later. The army also decided to P-26A equip the webbed bags that were tested on the machine 33-51. Manually operated bags were placed in the shelters in the wing roots, and were introduced from the P-26A 33-53 higher, but on the previously made machines complemented by not. No machine is probably never used, at least one would but paradoxically destroyed when the bags spontaneously ballooned in flight. Soon after the introduction into service were for the P-26A also developed the landing flaps, which were again added on all the machines.


The first units of which were P-26A "Peashooter" feature, they were at the beginning of the year 1934, the squadron 20. fighter group (55., 77. and 79. wing) at Barksdale Field in Louisiana, 1. fighter group (17., 27. and 94. squadron) on the Selfridge-Field in Michigan and 17. fighter group (34., 73. and 95. squadron) at March Field in California. In the second half of 30. years were Peashootery gradually move overseas, and in 1938 were the P-26 allocated 18. fighter group (6., 19., 44., 73. and 78. squadron) at Wheeler Field on Oahu. In 1940 to Hawaii arrived another P-26A, which was armed with the 15. fighter group (45., 46. and 47. fighter squadron). Hawaii P-26A together with Curtissy P-36 replacing Boeing P-12. Another P-26 also serve in 3. fighter squadron in the Philippines.


17. the group flew Peashootery only a year, because then changed his destination to battle and went back to the P-12E. Peashootery then were forwarded to the 16. fighter group (24. and 29. squadron), from February 1939, located at the airport of Albrook Field in the panama canal zone. These machines were later moved to the 37. fighter group(28., 30. and 31. squadron), which is in may 1941 changed for P-40B. Some were moved to 51. and 53. fighter squadron 32. fighter group, in the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, but in Panama had only 9! machines.


P-26 were pilots very favorite, in the first line were replaced in the years 1938-1940, when they replaced the the Seversky P-35 and Curtissy P-36A. Yet in that time have managed to P-26 in a small height umanévrovat every new american fighter. The problems but did little to break the chassis, which in combination with the high landing speed caused a number of accidents. To them signed also the soft shock absorbers the chassis and the problem of the mechanical brakes, which contribute to the frequent rolling over on her back. In addition to the above-mentioned trailing edge flaps and higher-backs received from the 1936 Peashootery also a new tail wheel because the original was too "drowned" in the hull and close the fairing was causing the trapping of mud and grass.


At the time of Pearl Harbor have already been Peashootery mostly from prvoliniových units discarded and were used for training mechanics, the hawaii Wheeler Field but still were about a dozen of the fighting P-26 aligned on the area of the airport. Six of them were the Japanese in the attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed and one damaged. Most of the machines placed in the Philippines was sold to the local government, its 12 P-26A Filipinos bought in July 1941. Part of them had served in the philippine 6. fighter squadron at the airport, Batangas, and despite their obsolescence they managed to achieve several victories. Peashooter indeed, achieved the first victory over the Philippines. To the most famous mission of the philippine P-26 occurred 12. December 1941, when a group of six cars, led by captain Jesus Villamorem, she got attacked by 54 japanese planes heading for Manila and in the loss of three P-26 shot down one bomber G3M and two Zero, while the Japanese prefer to downloaded. Early on they were remaining Peashootery Filipinos destroyed to not fall into the hands of the Japanese.


Mentioned panamanian P-26 were at the beginning of the 40. years moved to the Panama Canal Department Air Force, known simply also as the Panama Air Force, it was but a component of the u.s. army air force in the canal zone, later renamed the 6. air army, and no Peashooter never served in the air force of the state of Panama. Indeed up to 50. years consisted exclusively of several transport and training aircraft, simply had no fighting types and in 40. years basically did not exist. In November 1942 expressed the Fuerza Aerea de Guatemala interested in purchasing a few machines, but at that time, paid the congressional ban to export fighter aircraft to Latin american countries, with the exception of Brazil and Mexico. Guatemala was sold seven machines (33-49, 75, 89, 123, 126, 132, and 135), due to circumvent the prohibition were but in the documents labeled as "Boeing PT-26A" (PT-26A were in fact the training machines of the firm Fairchild). The three machines came from the panamanian canal zone, the other four were delivered from the USA. Among them was also the last airworthy american P-26A, 33-89, which in Guatemala has arrived 4. may 1943. The americans provide plenty of spare parts (the seventh machine was built just of them),so maintenance wasn't a problem, and to their longevity perhaps contributed that Guatemala did not have enough qualified pilots - in November 1945, were entitled to fly the P-26A only two. Guatemalan P-26A served as a fighter in the Air de Caza, located in the Camp de la Aurora in the capital, from the year 1946 were reassigned to the training. Several P-26 here has even 1957. Machine 33-123, prior to the sale to Guatemala serving in 94. fighter squadron, and then in Panama, was acquired by the california Planes of Fame Museum and put into letuschopného condition, second machine, 33-135, which also went through 54. squadrons and Panama, from Guatemala bought by the smithsonian in 1975, he was exposed to in the Air Force Museum, today it is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington..