Boeing P-26 Peashooter - USA
	Design work on the P-26 was undertaken during 1931. Shown is Boeing P-26C of the 19th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, Hawaii.

The Boeing Airplane Company completed its first B-9 bomber for the Air Corps on April 29, 1931, and the twin-engined machine proved to be faster than any other bomber in the world. It was so fast in fact, that no existing American fighter was able to intercept it. The B-9 had a maximum speed of 188 mph, while the Boeing P-12E had a speed of only 189 mph and the Curtiss P-6E, which had not yet started coming from the production lines, could do just 197 mph under ideal conditions. With the development of the B-9, many observers felt that the day of the fighter was at an end. However, the Boeing engineers thought they would be able to produce a small fighter that would be fast enough to overtake their bomber and combat it successfully. Their answer was the P-26. Design work on the P-26 was undertaken during 1931, and production was begun the following January. The first of three experimental models, called XP-936s, were completed in March and taken up for its initial flight on the 20th of the month. The P-26 was the first all-metal, low-wing fighter to be put into production in the United States. It was also the last open-cockpit fighter built for the Air Corps, the last with a fixed landing gear, and the last with externally braced wings. Even more, it was the last fighter built on the theory that fighters had to be kept light and small for better maneuverability.

The Air Corps ordered 111 P-26As on January 11, 1933, later increasing this to 136—the largest single contract for aircraft issued since 1921. Deliveries to service squadrons began in December 1933, and the last plane in the series, designated P-26C, was rolled from the assembly line in 1936. By that time the machine was badly outclassed by single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, which made its first flight on September 1935 in Germany, and the Polikarpov I-16s of the Soviet Union, which made its first flight on December 1933. The P-26 remained in active service for many years and in November 1940, a full year after the start of World War II, the US Army's entire fighter strength in the Philippines consisted of only 28 P-26s. Most of these were destroyed in the first Japanese attacks but two of them, flown by Philippine pilots, became the first American fighters to shoot down Japanese airplanes. The first Boeing fighter to have combat experience, however, was the Model 281 (the export version of the P-26C) which was bought by China in 1936. On August 20, 1937 eight of these Boeing fighters engaged six G3M2 Japanese bombers as they carried out a raid on Nanking airport and shot them down without suffering any losses. Later, in China and elsewhere, things were not to be so easy—the few P-26s which 6th Fighter Squadron of the newly constituted Philippine Army Air Force had at its disposal, found they had to contend with Japanese Zero fighters in the desperate struggle to defend their homeland in 1942. But by 1942 the P-26 had already become obsolescent and had been taken out of front line service by the USAAF. There were however, P-26s which were still flying until 1957 with Guatemala's Air Force, having been kept in service since the early 1940s—an operational life of over twenty years is certainly impressive. During the years 1932-1934 the P-26 set several speed and altitude records—it was a popular pilot's plane and performed well until outclassed by more modern fighters. Boeing's engineers had once again delivered the goods and at the right price. It is interesting to note that a P-26 cost $9,999 (exclusive of USAAC equipment): under $10,000 and less than a P-12E biplane, just as they had promised.

Specifications:
Boeing P-26A (Model 266)
Dimensions:
Wing span:	27 ft 11 1/2 in (8.50 m)
Length:	23 ft 7 1/4 in (7.18 m)
Height:	10 ft 0 in (3.04 m)
Weights:
Empty:	2,196 lb (996 kg)
Operational:	3,360 lb (1,524 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed:	234 mph (377 km/h) at 6,000 ft (1,829 m)
Service Ceiling:	27,400 ft (8,352 m)
Normal Range:	360 miles (579 km)
Max. Range:	635 miles (1,022 km)
Powerplant:
One Pratt & Whittney Wasp R-1340-7 nine cylinder air-cooled single row radial engine rated at 600 hp at 2,250 rpm for take-off.
Armament:
Two .30 inch machine-guns and one 200lb (91 kg.) bomb.

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