n HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The XP-936, the prototype for the P-26 Peashooter, stands at in . The XP-936 featured a smooth-skinned all-metal monoplane design, an innovation introduced on the commercial . B oei n g Archive s photo The Peashooter’s legacy

example of an earlier pacesetter flew for the But this isn’t the first time Boeing has How the P-26 brought first time 75 years ago: the legendary P-26 been associated with leading-edge fighter “Peashooter,” the first production all-metal planes. During the 1920s, the Boeing fam- updated technology monoplane fighter for the U.S. military. ily of fighters, in particular the U.S. Army For more than 70 years, Boeing has P-12 and U.S. Navy/Marine Corps F-4B se- to U.S. fighter been a leader in the design and production ries, were arguably the best in the world. of large . With North American While the Boeing Airplane Company By Michael Lombardi and McDonnell Douglas being was building these fighters, the among Boeing’s predecessor companies, company was also developing technolog- his year’s introduction of the revolu- Boeing is also known for some of the most ically advanced airplanes. Among them: tionary 787 will be the latest mile- dominant fighter planes in modern history: the Boeing Monomail, which introduced Tstone in Boeing’s heritage of stan- the P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre, F-4 Phan- for the first time in a commercial airplane dard-setting innovative airplanes. A good tom, F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet. innovations such as an all-metal semi-

 April 2007 BOEING FRONTIERS n HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE monocoque (outer skin carrying the stress) ignation XP-26 (and later Y1P-26) and fol- craft were outmatched by the modern Mit- fuselage with a smooth skin surface, canti- lowed that with an order for 111 airplanes subishi A6M Zero fighters, the Filipino pi- levered wings and retractable landing gear. designated P-26A. lots managed to score several victories. Boeing also applied these innovations to a The P-26, known as “the Peashooter,” Today, only two original P-26s sur- new military plane, the B-9 bomber, which was a small airplane with a wing span vive. One is on display at the Smithsonian became the first all-metal monoplane slightly less than 28 feet (8.5 meters) and National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar- bomber in the United States. a length of 23 feet 9 inches and a height Hazy Center near , D.C. The The introduction of fast monoplane of 10 feet (7.2 by 3 meters). Powered by a other is part of the Planes of Fame collec- bombers such as the B-9, which could keep 600hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine, the tion at Chino, Calif. A third example can be pace with the pursuit planes of the period P-26 had a top speed of 234 mph (377 ki- seen at the National Museum of the U.S. Air (“pursuit” was the term used at that time lometers per hour) and was nearly 40 mph Force near Dayton, Ohio. While it’s not an for what we call “fighter” planes today), (64 kilometers per hour) faster than the original, it was built using data from Boe- led some strategists to propose that pursuit best U.S. pursuit planes of the day. ing’s archives and was given the next serial planes were becoming obsolete. The excellent performance of the P-26 number in the Boeing production run. In September 1931, Boeing set out to led the Army Air Corps to purchase 25 ad- While the innovations introduced by remedy this situation and began develop- ditional P-26s. The first two were delivered the Boeing Monomail and P-26 set the pat- ment of the Model 248, at the company’s with a new fuel-injected engine and were tern for future single-engine monoplane own expense. This new pursuit design designated P-26B; the rest that followed fighters, Boeing did not receive any more incorporated many of the innovations were designated P-26Cs. production contracts for its designs and introduced on the Boeing Monomail— Boeing also built the Model 281, an ex- eventually bowed out of the fighter busi- especially the smooth-skinned all-metal port version of the P-26. Ten Model 281s ness. Boeing had learned from its expe- monoplane design. The Army Air Corps were sold to China, and one more was rience with the B-9 that the technologies helped Boeing by supplying engines for taken to Europe for a sales demonstra- of all-metal monoplanes could be applied three prototypes that were given the Air tion by Boeing test pilot Les Tower and to larger airplanes with excellent results. Corps designation XP-936. Boeing Sales Manager Erik Nelson. When This experience, along with a realignment The wire on the wings of the the plane was demonstrated outside of of the company after the breakup of Unit- P-26 and the fixed landing gear were steps Madrid, it was acquired by the Spanish ed Aircraft and Transport Corporation, set backward from the cantilever wings and government and was used in combat dur- Boeing into a new direction of specializ- retractable landing gear of the Monomail. ing that nation’s civil war. ing in multiengine monoplanes—the “Big These design compromises decreased the By the start of World War II, the P-26 Boeings,” as they would be called. weight and complexity of the airplane had been retired from frontline U.S. service. That led to the Model 299, prototype for while increasing its performance. But a few were stationed at Wheeler Field in the B-17 Flying Fortress, followed by the On March 20 (some accounts say Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and a number Model 307 Stratoliner—the world’s first March 10), 1932, at Boeing Field in of others had been transferred to the Philip- pressurized commercial airplane—and the Seattle, the new pursuit plane made its first pines and Guatemala. The P-26s flown by 314 Clipper. These and more airplanes rep- flight. In June the Army Air Corps bought the Philippine Army Air Corps did see short resent the proud lineage of the 787. n the prototypes and assigned them the des- but intense combat. Even though these air- [email protected]

The last flyable P-26 in the world takes to the air at last May’s Planes of Fame Air Show in Chino, Calif. E ri k S imonsen photo

BOEING FRONTIERS April 2007