Boeing P-26 Peashooter
The Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" was a single-seat fighter built by Boeing for the U.S. Army Air Corps, the service's first all-metal monoplane fighter. First flown in 1932, it combined all-metal monoplane construction with an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and wire-braced wings, and served as the Air Corps' front-line fighter through the mid-to-late 1930s. Export Model 281s fought in Spain and China, Philippine aircraft fought the Japanese invasion in December 1941, and Guatemala operated the type until 1957. Two originals survive: one displayed by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and one flown by Planes of Fame Air Museum.
Why It Mattered
The P-26 grew out of Boeing's own initiative: in 1931 the company began designing an all-metal, low-wing monoplane fighter, the Model 248, for an Army Air Corps still equipped with biplanes. The Smithsonian credits the P-26A with introducing the concept of the high-performance, all-metal monoplane fighter design that became standard during the Second World War. Vintage Aviation News calls it the first all-metal monoplane fighter to enter U.S. Army Air Corps service. Yet the design kept one foot in the biplane era, with an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and external wing bracing; the Smithsonian notes it was the last fighter the Army accepted with those features. The same source observes that it was also the last military fighter airplane Boeing manufactured.
Design Notes
The fuselage was an aluminium semi-monocoque, and the duralumin wings were carried on two spars and braced with external steel wires rather than cantilevered, a choice Boeing's engineers made for lightness. The fixed landing gear was kept for the same reason: the Smithsonian notes it produced considerable drag but greatly reduced weight and structural complexity. Some of the conservatism was the customer's: The Aviationist records that the Army insisted on the wire-braced fixed gear to save weight and specified an open cockpit for visibility. Power came from a 600-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340-27 Wasp radial, giving a maximum level speed of 234 mph. Armament was either two .30-calibre machine guns or one .30-calibre and one .50-calibre gun, synchronised to fire through the propeller arc. Service experience changed the design: after a pilot was killed when his aircraft overturned on landing, all P-26s received a larger, strengthened headrest, and flaps were retrofitted that cut the landing speed from 82.5 mph to 73 mph.
Operational History
The prototype first flew on 20 March 1932, and the type entered US service with pursuit groups including the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field, Michigan, and the 20th at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. The Smithsonian records the Army's orders as 111 P-26As plus twenty-five B and C models, a total production of 136, while The Aviationist counts 151 built in all, including the prototypes and twelve export Model 281s. Through the mid-to-late 1930s it was the Air Corps' front-line fighter, until the more advanced Seversky P-35 and Curtiss P-36A replaced it. Exports came first to combat: one Model 281 went to Spain as a demonstrator and was shot down in October 1936 without recording a victory, while eleven went to China. China's Model 281s were used heavily against Japanese bombers over Nanking in 1936–37, and The Aviationist describes their engagements with Mitsubishi A5M fighters as the first dogfights and kills between all-metal monoplanes. By the end of 1937 every Chinese aircraft had been destroyed or withdrawn from service. The Smithsonian records that the P-26s flown by China and the Philippines scored numerous successes before their destruction by more numerous, modern opponents. In December 1941, Philippine Army Air Corps P-26s fought the Japanese invasion: six aircraft led by Captain Jesus Villamor attacked a much larger bomber formation, and Villamor is credited with downing a Mitsubishi G3M bomber and an A6M Zero. Three of the Philippine aircraft were lost in the fighting, and later in December the remaining aircraft were destroyed to prevent their capture. Nine P-26s in the Panama Canal Zone patrolled for German and Japanese submarines, and seven were sold to Guatemala in 1942–43, redesignated PT-26A trainers to get around restrictions on fighter sales; Guatemala flew the type until 1957.
Afterlife
Only two original P-26s survive, and both came back from Guatemala, where their last military service was as trainers. Guatemala donated one to the Smithsonian in 1957; restored by the U.S. Air Force, it was displayed at the Air Force Museum in Dayton until 1975 and is now on display in the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The second survivor belongs to Planes of Fame Air Museum and is, in the museum's words, the only remaining flying Boeing P-26 in the world. Grounded for its rarity in the 1980s, it was restored to the air for the museum's 2006 airshow and in 2014 was shipped to England to fly at Duxford. Planes of Fame announced a final flight at Chino on 7 March 2026, after which the aircraft would move to the museum's new flagship facility at Santa Maria, California. Other museums display full-scale reproductions — static examples at San Diego and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, an airworthy reproduction at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, and a replica in Balanga in the Philippines — but these are modern builds, not survivors.