Boeing P-26 Peashooter - Design and Development

Design and Development

The project, funded by Boeing, to produce the Boeing Model 248 began in September 1931, with the Army Air Corps supplying the engines and the instruments. The design — which included an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and externally braced wings, was the last such design procured by the USAAC as a fighter aircraft. The Model 248 had a high landing speed, which caused a number of accidents. To remedy this, flaps were fitted to reduce the landing speed. The Army Air Corps ordered three prototypes, designated XP-936, with the first flight on 20 March 1932.

The Boeing XP-936 was still tricky to land. Sometimes, because of the short nose, it tended to roll onto its back and would flip forward, injuring a number of pilots. The prototype's unarmored headrest offered virtually no protection in such instances. As a result, production Model 266s (P-26As) had a taller, armored headrest installed.

Two fighters were completed as the P-26B with a fuel-injected Pratt & Whitney R-1340-33 engine. These were followed by 23 P-26Cs, with carburated R-1340-33s and modified fuel systems. Both the Spanish Air Force (one aircraft) and the Chinese Air Force (11 aircraft) ordered examples of the Model 281 version of the P-26C in 1936.

The diminutive "Peashooter" — as it became affectionately known by service pilots, was faster than previous American combat aircraft. Nonetheless, its design was also an anachronism with wire-braced wings, fixed landing gear and open cockpit representing outdated design features. In Europe, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Hawker Hurricane with enclosed cockpits, retractable landing gear and monocoque wings, both flew for the first time in 1935 and were more representative of contemporary monoplane fighter designs. However, the P-26 was easy to fly, and it remained in service until the U.S. entered World War II.