P-26
aircraft, made by Boeing and known as the Peashooter, were the first United States all-metal, low-wing
fighters.
The aircraft were capable of
speeds exceeding those of the most modern bombers of the time. They
first took to the air on March 20, 1932 and had a top speed of 234
mph.
When the B-9 bomber was introduced,
it had a 188 mph top speed. That was faster than most fighters at the
time. The P-26 Peashooter had no problems escorting the
bomber.
On January 22, 1933 the U.S. Army
Air Corps contracted with Boeing for production of a total of 136 of
the aircraft. Deliveries were scheduled from 1933 to 1936. This was
the largest order ever placed for a U.S. military aircraft to
date.
Boeing P-26 aircraft were
quick to respond to control inputs, maneuverable, and fast.
They
didn't have any bad handling characteristics. They were known
as a "pilots airplane."
The
aircraft had a rather high landing speed for aircraft of the time.
The speed limited operations of the aircraft to smoother runways.
Boeing fitted flaps to the aircraft to help slow the landing
speed.
That modification made the aircraft more appealing to
U.S.-friendly air forces where rougher runways were common.
Eventually China, Guatemala, Panama, the Philippines and Spain
acquired the aircraft.
In 1934, 1935 and
1936 the aircraft set numerous world speed and altitude records.
When more modern German and Soviet aircraft were
introduced, they greatly out performed the P-26 in speed
and maneuverability.
P-26
fighters were flown by the Chinese at the start of World War II. In
1936 the aircraft intercepted six unescorted Japanese bombers
attacking Chinese targets. All the Japanese planes were downed while
the
Chinese aircraft returned unscathed.
During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, in November of
1940, the aircraft were the first United States built planes to
encounter the Japanese invaders. They were easy prey for Japanese
Zero fighters.
All P-26 aircraft were withdrawn
from the front lines by 1942.
The aircraft
had a long service life. The Air Force of Guatemala was still flying
them in 1957.
A total of 162 P-26
aircraft were produced.
RC Airplane
RC P-26 from NitroPlanes.
Pictured above is the rc P-26 from Nitro Planes. Wingspan is 71" and length is 51". It has
a fiberglass fuselage and sheeted foamy wings. Power
can come from
a .60 two stroke or .91 four stroke engine. All up weight is about 9
lbs.
The first picture below is of the rc P-26
from Cleveland Model & Supply. The great
looking
model was built by Luis Carlos Veiga. Cleveland has plans
for sale
with wingspans of 28", 42", 56" and
84".
The next picture below is of
the rc P-26 built
from a Dare Hobbies Kit. It has a
wingspan of 32".
Fuselage length is 26". Dare
doesn't provide any recommendations
regarding powering their scale
rc airplane.
The third picture below is of
the rc P-26 scratch built
by Kuni of RC Groups. It has
a wingspan of 72". Kuni powers it with a brushless inrunner
motor swinging either a 18 x 10 or
20 x 10 propeller. Power is
obtained from a 10 series Lithium Polymer battery pack.
The last picture on this page is of the nice looking rc P-26 built by E-Challenged of WattFlyer
RC. It has a 40" wingspan and uses Scorpio 3008/31 electric
power turning a 11 x 7 propeller. Weight is about 2 1/2
lbs.
Radio
Control Airplane
The rc
P-26 by Luis Carlos Veiga.
Radio Control
Airplane
Dare
Hobbies rc P-26.
Radio Control
Airplane
The rc
P-26 by Kuni.
Radio Control
Airplane
E-Challenged's
rc P-26.
There is rc P-26 from Dumas that makes an interesting conversion from free flight.
Kit
Cutters has a rc P-26 kit made from Jim Pepino
Plans. It has a 80" wingspan. Plans are also available
separately.
We found rc P-26
plans for sale on eBay. They build to a wingspan of 9'
4".
We found a 17 1/2"
wingspan rc P-26 kit for sale on eBay.
On eBay there are rc P-26
plans from a Royal kit. The rc airplane has a
wingspan of 5' 7".
The AMA Plans
Service has rc P-26 plans. Wingspan is 61",
no. 60343.
There are 84" wingspan
P-26 plans from the AMA Plans Service. Plan no.
is 14322.
Giant Scale Planes has a rc P-26. It has a wingspan of 71".
There is a rc P-26 at Raidentech. It has a
71" wingspan and is a ARF.
Champion
Hobby, Singapore has a 71" rc P-26.
Plush Toys shows a rc P-26. However, it appears to be the Dumas FF kit.
Marutake RC Model had a rc P-26. Wingspan is 67" and length is 56 1/2". Power
can come from .90 two stroke or
1.20 four stroke engines. Weight
is around 9 lbs. Although the company is out of business, the rc
model airplanes can often be found for
sale on eBay, RC Universe,
RC Groups, and similar sites.
BetterFly
has rc P-26 three view drawings.
At
RC Universe gizmos posted pictures and information of a rc P-26 build.
Mustang Man-RCU was
looking for a rc P-26 Peashooter.
Campy of RC Universe invited remarks about a rc P-26 kit.
At RC Universe 1Eye had
questions about powering a rc P-26.
At RC Universe iFLYrc_Vicposted advice about powering a rc P-26.
Jeff Meyers of RC Groups
started a thread about power choices for his rc P-26.
At RC Groups drypipe suggested a future ARF for
sale of the rc P-26.
E-Challenged
of RC Groups started a thread about the construction of a rc P-26 .
EAMRC of RC Groups had a rc
P-26 kit for sale.
At RC Groups
evdo started a thread about converting to a rc P-26 from FF.
Howard Davidson of
RC Universe posted a description and pictures of his rc P-26.
Mustang Man-RCU
of RC
Universe was asking about the qualities of the rc P-26.
RC Universe shows a rc P-26 from
Flair. It has a wing span of 71" and is 51"
long.
Engines can be from .60 to .89 and weight is around 9 1/4
lbs. We are unable to find the rc airplane
on the Flair Models
website.
At the South County Radio Control
Club smithcreek started a construction thread for a rc P-26
with a wingspan of 67".
There is a picture of a full scale P-26 posted at VW
Vortex forums.
MCarlton of RC Groups
posted three view drawings of a rc P-26.
Please email us if you know of another rc
P-26 that should be included
on this page.
Boeing P-26 Peashooter
