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As far as we know, only two genuine Boeing P-26 Peashooters exist in the world: one at the Smithsonian's National Air
& Space Museum and the other in the collection of the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California. The USAF Museum
in Dayton, Ohio, needing to add a representative of this extremely significant aircraft to its collection, opted to have a
full-scale reproduction built, incorporating as many real P-26 components as possible. This aircraft, the subject of
these photos, was put on display in 1999. These photos were taken in July 1999, when the aircraft was in the museum's
"Hall of Heroes," and in September 2000, when the aircraft had been moved into the museum's Early Years gallery.
This starboard side view highlights the markings, which depict P-26A 33-39 from the 19th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit
Group, based at Wheeler Field, Hawaii. The Light Blue fuselage and Chrome Yellow wings were standard for the 1934-1938
time period, although Olive Drab was an accepted alternate colour for the fuselage. This view also shows the wing flaps,
retroactively added to the P-26A fleet in the summer of 1935 to reduce landing speeds.
The P-26 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-27 Wasp engine, enclosed in a Townsend Ring. This photo shows
the details of the engine, including the pushrods, ignition wires, and the Pratt & Whitney logo on the bottom of
the crankcase. Some details of how the cowl ring was attached to the engine are also visible. The two aluminum
tubes, visible between the cylinders to the left and (barely visible behind the propeller blade) the right, are blast tubes
for the two .30 calibre machine guns. A single .50 calibre weapon could be fitted on the starboard side, but this does
not appear to have been common.
The highly polished propeller dominates the front of the aircraft. The individual exhaust stacks can be seen, as can the
complex series of vents aft of the cowling.
The immense headrest, designed to protect the pilot in the event of a rollover, dominates the cockpit area. The door opens
to port to facilitate pilot access, and is painted aluminum on the interior, matching the rest of the cockpit. Note the very
simple construction of the windscreen.
This close-up of the right side of the forward fuselage shows details of the rigging, as well as the polished brass venturi
tube.
Our final photograph examines one of the P-26's most distinctive features, its huge spatted undercarriage. The white lines
midway up the spats show where the lower parts of the spats compress as pressure is applied to the landing gear. Details of
the wire bracing are also apparent.
There are three readily available kits of the P-26 available. In 1/32 scale, Hasegawa's big model is somewhat crude in
its details, but the overall shape is good, and it can be built into an impressive model with some work. The Hobbycraft 1/48
kit (also boxed by Academy) is highly recommended, and one of the best kits that Hobbycraft has ever produced. Revell's 1/72
scale kit is showing its age, and unless you really need a small-scale Peashooter, go with the Hobbycraft offering.
There are two very useful references out there for P-26 enthusiasts. The P-26 Mini in Action #2 (Squadron/Signal,
1994) by Larry Davis should be pretty easy to find and inexpensive, and is loaded with good drawings and great colour profiles.
Even better, though, is Aerofax Minigraph 8: Boeing P-26 Variants, by Peter Bowers (Aerofax, 1984). This book has a
superb collection of detail photographs from the Boeing archives, as well as excellent text and operational photos. It's not
easy to find anymore, but worth your while to track down.
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