Boeing P-26 "Peashooter"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for July, 1953
by Jo Kotula
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The American Boeing P-26, nicknamed the "Peashooter", was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. The prototype first flew in 1932, and were used by the Air Corps as late as 1941 in the Philippines.

     

Boeing P-26 Fighter, "Peashooter"
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Due to the gunsight, the plane acquired the nickname "Peashooter" The P-26 was faster than previous American combat aircraft,and was the first American plane with a modern monoplane design. However, worldwide fighter aircraft developments soon outstripped the P-26. In Europe the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Hawker Hurricane with closed cockpits (ca 1935) were more representative of contemporary monoplane fighter designs. However, the P-26 was easy to fly and remained in active service for many years until the United States entered World War II. The P-21 was very popular in the mass media. Our review of Popular Mechanics from 1932-1939 turned up quite a few articles featuring glamorous photos and drawings of the "Peashooter"

The "Peashooter" in the Mass Media
Popular Mechanics (July, 1934)
Click here to download a ".pdf" compendium of articles featuring the P-21
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Deliveries to U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) pursuit squadrons began in December 1933 with the last production aircraft in the series coming off the assembly line in 1936. Ultimately 22 squadrons flew the Peashooter, with peak service being six squadrons in 1936. P-26s were the front-line fighters of the USAAC until 1938, when Seversky P-35s and Curtiss P-36s began to replace it.

     

Early Cleveland Kit for the P-26 Fighter
  

Later Cleveland Kit for the P-26 Fighter
(in the 1950s, Cleveland began to offer pre-cut parts)
The former kit is worth more than the latter...
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Here is a video of the P-26 in action in the 1941 air campaign over the Phillipines. Even though the P-26 was woefuly inferior to the Japanese Zero, several heroic Filipino flyers managed to win successful battles. They are memorialized in the video.

This model is a perfect subject for modeling because the construction techniques are simiar to the "real thing" (with the exception that metal, not tissue paper is used for covering. Note the graphics on the box -- they are appproriate to the 1930s. Also, at that time the kit also came with paint, a factor you might want to consider if you value complete authenticity.

  

Boeing P-26 Fighter, "Peashooter" on the Cleveland Site

You can buy the plans and patterns that will enable you to make this model right now. Click Here to go to the exact location on the Cleveland Website to get them.

Click Here for more information about the Boeing P-26 "Peashooter".

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