Boeing Company won the first large aircraft order at 19 19: to manufacture 200 Thomas Morse MB-3-3 fighters for the US Army Air Force. Boeing has made many improvements on the basis of MB-3 (later called MB-3A), such as redesigning the tail wing, modifying the radiator, and replacing the original wooden structure with the fuselage structure welded with steel pipes. It is worth noting that Boeing gradually stepped onto the right track with the good reputation of MB-3A, while Thomas Morse was quickly forgotten. Boeing's next fighter plan is Boeing 15. It is planned to adopt a steel tube skeleton fuselage, wooden wings and 435 HP Curtis D- 12 liquid-cooled engine. Boeing's purpose in developing this aircraft is still to compete with Curtis for the market. Full of expectations, Boeing even invested in the fuselage part of the prototype. Although the Boeing 83 series has achieved quite good results, Boeing management believes that the era of biplane is coming to an end. Boeing Company started the feasibility study of its monoplane fighter in 1928, and demonstrated three prototype monoplane fighters manufactured by Boeing Company in 1930. The first two (manufactured by Boeing at its own risk) are Boeing 83, with the lower wing removed and only the upper wing retained. One prototype was demonstrated to the US Army Air Force with the code XP- 15, and the other (with tail hook) was sent to the Navy for testing with the code XF5B- 1. Although the test flight results show that both of them fly faster than biplane fighters, they are not satisfactory in maneuverability and climb rate, and they are not won by the military in the end. 1at the end of 930, the third prototype XP-9 of Boeing 83 appeared in front of the world. Its design originated from the technical specifications issued by the United States Army Aviation. The design of XP-9 is full of the flavor of the times. It adopts shoulder-mounted monoplane and aluminum hard shell fuselage, and adopts 600 HP Curtis water-cooled engine. The maximum speed can reach 265,438+03 mph, which is much faster than the first two prototypes with parasols. Unfortunately, the cockpit is arranged behind the wing strut, which greatly hinders the pilot's vision. In addition, XP-9' s shortcomings in mobility are also a headache. After weighing, the US Army Air Force made a decision to buy the P- 12 biplane fighter.
Another prototype Boeing 200 single-wing postal aircraft appeared in 1930, which attracted more attention. At first, it was designed as a high-speed postal plane, and its successful development benefited from Boeing's experience in the civil aviation field in the 1920s (Boeing Airlines, which it founded, later became the predecessor of United Airlines). Boeing 200 is an advanced cantilever lower monoplane aircraft with an all-aluminum monocoque fuselage and retractable landing gear. With a total length of 465,438+0 feet and a wingspan of 59 feet, it can carry 2,300 pounds of payload (mail or passengers) for 600 miles. The aerodynamic design of Boeing 200 is excellent, but the top speed is only 158 miles per hour, because the power of its "Hornet" engine (525 horsepower) is low. 193 1 year, Boeing developed a double-engine fast bomber B-9 for American army airlines on the basis of Boeing 200. The top speed of this bomber reached an astonishing 186 miles per hour, and its appearance made P- 12, F4B and other biplane fighters at a loss.
Only two Boeing 200 aircraft were built, but they were abandoned because the US Department of Commerce stipulated in 19365438 that passenger aircraft must adopt multi-engine configuration. In the same year, the designers of Boeing Company started the development of a new fighter code 248, and planned to change its name to XP- 193 12. It is an all-metal single-wing fighter with an aluminum fuselage, and its shape is similar to that of a scaled-down Boeing 200. The prototype made its first flight on March 20th, 1932. Except that the engines and instruments are sponsored by Luhang (Luhang is experiencing a military crisis caused by the economic crisis), most of the manufacturing costs of the three prototypes are solved by Boeing itself. Because Boeing is not a public welfare organization, the purpose of its investment is to gain profits, not to create an avant-garde experimental product that no one cares about. Therefore, Boeing designers design aircraft with a more conservative attitude, hoping to win the favor of American airlines in the end. In the past, aviation experts had doubts about the benefits of using retractable landing gear. The popular view is that the reduced flight resistance of retractable landing gear will be offset by the weight of its mechanical device, while the early retractable landing gear was manually operated by the pilot, and the failure rate remained high. Therefore, Boeing decided to use the fixed landing gear with fairing on the new aircraft after comprehensive consideration. The US Army Airlines thought that the stress caused by the fierce maneuvering of fighter planes would be unbearable for ordinary cantilever wings, so Boeing added tension lines to the new main wing similar to those used by single-wing fighters in World War I. Before airborne radar appeared, the winner of air combat was often the first to find the opponent, so many pilots firmly believed that a good field of vision was indispensable for a fighter. In addition, because the airborne radio station was not mature at that time, pilots had to use various visual signals to communicate, so the closed cockpit would make pilots feel uncomfortable (the early cockpit glass would also produce optical distortion). In short, Boeing designers decided to continue to use the classic open cockpit despite designing a new fighter with a speed of more than 200 miles per hour.
Boeing has made many concessions to conservative demands from all sides, but XP-936 is still avant-garde, and looks more like a competition plane at Cleveland Aviation Festival than an army fighter. Smooth lines and short wings help XP-936 achieve amazing high speed, but high speed also brings about the deterioration of aircraft maneuverability, and many aviation officials do not agree with this performance change. It took Boeing only three months to build three XP-936 prototypes. In the next eight months, the test pilots flew the prototype several times. Boeing's new fighter will eventually be put into production, code-named P-26, and US Army Airlines has also ordered 25 P- 12F biplane fighters to reduce possible risks. P- 12F and P-26 both use 600 HP Pratt & Whitney Bumblebee air-cooled engine. Now we might as well compare their performance data on paper: the top speed of P-26 is 234 miles per hour-20% faster than P- 12F. The range of the P-26 is 375 miles-75 miles higher than that of the P- 12F. However, due to the inherent low wing loading of P- 12F, its climb rate (2920ft/min) is 24% higher than that of P-26, and its service ceiling (3 1 400ft (. What really worries US Army aviation is that the landing speed of the P-26 is 82 miles per hour (65,438+07 miles higher than that of the P-65,438+02f), which is more dangerous for pilots with ordinary skills. The problem of narrow landing gear spacing will increase the chance of accidents when landing. Therefore, the US Army Air Force requires Boeing to add a set of flap landing AIDS to the already produced P-26 (the first mass production machine equipped by the US Army Air Force), which can reduce the landing speed of the P-26 to an acceptable 73 mph. Boeing knew that even with the new flap device, the stall speed of the P-26 could not reach the level of being able to board the ship at all, so Boeing did not develop the naval model of the P-26 at the same time as usual. In fact, the carrier aircraft unit of the US Navy did not receive the first batch of monoplane fighters (Brewster F2A Buffalo) until 1939. A flight accident of the P-26 prototype prompted Boeing to improve its design for the second time. In that fatal accident, the plane overturned forward when landing and broke the test pilot's neck. In the past, the upper wing of the biplane could protect the crew when the plane was "propped up", but the lower wing of the P-26 didn't have this function, so Boeing raised the headrest of the pilot of the mass production P-26 by 8 inches and installed a metal bar in it for reinforcement. The introduction of new headrest makes the back of P-26 appear "hump", which is also a remarkable feature of aircraft appearance. The mass production of P-26 began in193365438+1October. Although it is a world-class fighter, the appearance of P-26 has not been warmly welcomed. The unofficial nickname "toy gun"-probably named after the muzzle of two machine guns equipped with it-is obviously not well-intentioned, but for many pilots who are used to flying responsive biplane fighters.
During the period from 1933 to 1934, the US Army Air Force purchased a total of 139 "toy guns". Except for the three prototypes, most of them are its basic mass production P-26A( 1 1 1), and 25 P's were originally designed and used the improved "Wasp" engine. The improved Hornet engine adopts fuel injection mode, which can obviously improve the high altitude performance of the aircraft. However, Boeing only got three engines, and the remaining 22 P-26B engines were equipped with refueling engines used by P-26A. These "hybrid varieties" are called P-26C. With the improvement of engine supply, some P-26c were later upgraded to P-26B. P-26 is equipped with two synchronous machine guns at the bottom of the cockpit, both of which can be .30 caliber machine guns, or one .30 caliber machine gun and one .50 caliber machine gun. It can also carry a bomb weighing 200 pounds on the fuselage pylon to perform ground support tasks.
P-26A of the 20th Brigade flew in formation.
P-26C
The appearance of "toy gun" coincided with the peak of the Great Depression. In order to obtain limited government investment, fierce competition has been launched among various services. Because the public didn't know enough about the importance of military aviation at that time, American Army Airlines frequently displayed it in public in order to win the support of the public. The mid-1930s was the most prosperous period of painting culture in the history of American military aircraft development. According to the painting standard of American aviation aircraft, the wings and tails should be painted with chrome yellow, the fuselage should be painted with blue, the leading edge of rudder is generally painted with vertical blue ribbon, followed by 13 red and white stripes, and the wings and fuselage are painted with color stripes with identification function. In addition, squadrons and brigades will add their own personality marks. At this time, the exquisite picture of American fighter planes often reaches the level equivalent to that of aerobatic teams. The 17 Expulsion Brigade stationed in March Field, Southern California is one of the best. It has jurisdiction over the 34th, 73rd and 95th Expulsion Squadron. It is worth mentioning that the 34th Squadron is the earliest Thunderbird Squadron, which was earlier than the birth of the US Air Force 13 years.
The twill on the fuselage indicates that the aircraft is the commander's plane, the P on the vertical tail indicates pursuit, the R indicates 18 brigade, and 1 1 indicates that the aircraft is the brigade's1/aircraft.
17 P-26A of Thunderbird Squadron No.34 of Expulsion Brigade, please note that its back and abdomen are painted with the numbers of the squadron and the single machine respectively.
1 The aircraft of the Ejection Brigade is painted with diagonal belts on the side of the fuselage, and the squadrons under its jurisdiction use different colors, and the diagonal belts are painted with their own team logos. The Sioux Indian head used on this P-26A fighter is the symbol of 94 Ejection Squadron.
Paleontologist Dai Fen Jay Gould said that the frequency of evolution is not constant, but sometimes it is fast and sometimes it is slow. As a result, P-26 unfortunately became a victim of this theory. The unfortunate thing about "toy gun" is that it appeared in the initial stage of aviation development in the 1930s. Specifically, the relatively advanced P-26 in 1933 became obsolete after the Martin B- 10 bomber appeared (the B- 10 in 1934 adopted a fully enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear with a maximum speed of. However, the Seversky P-35 and Curtis P-36 fighters that appeared in 1936 threw the P-26 further, and many foreign aircraft models such as Hurricane and Bf 109 also appeared in the same period. P-26 became completely obsolete in just three years, and the conservative genes left in its pedigree doomed it to be eliminated soon. Unwilling Boeing Company continued to improve the "toy gun", and in 1934, it introduced a tension-free cantilever wing, a retractable landing gear and a P-29 with a closed cockpit, but the speed of the plane could never exceed 240 mph. The United States Army Aviation believes that the performance of YP-29 (a pre-production prototype for evaluation purposes) has not improved much compared with that of P-26, and it is not worth disrupting the original production plan for it. At this time, Boeing also started the research and development of large aircraft, and YP-29 became the last fighter produced by Boeing for the US Army Aviation.
YP-29
P-26A is stationed at Wheeler Airport in Hawaii, and they are only members of the 18 expulsion brigade.
With the service of modern fighters such as Sevsky P-35, fighter squadrons stationed in the United States no longer use P-26 aircraft. By 1938, only US troops deployed in overseas bases such as Panama, Hawaii and the Philippines were still using P-26. Interestingly, the eliminated P-26 is often used as an advanced trainer to train pilots to fly a new generation of fighters. When Boeing's P-26 production line was still diverted by land in the United States, the Kuomintang government in China also purchased a batch of Boeing 28 1 (China called it Boeing 248) fighters with similar styles to the P-26. Boeing produced 10 of the above-mentioned aircraft for China in 1934, but it was postponed to 1938 due to lack of funds and other reasons. These Boeing 248s were all used by 17 Squadron (squadron leader Huang, China volunteer Huang Panyang from Seattle) and then took part in the battle to defend Nanjing. 1937 August 15, eight Boeing 248s attacked six Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers and shot them all down. Among them, Wang'sNo. 170 1 shot down the first Japanese plane (and then shot down the second one with his teammates), and Huang Xinrui (Huang Sunshui, a volunteer of China born in Los Angeles). However, the harsh war situation and harsh conditions made the Boeing 248 of the National Army exhausted. By the end of 1937, none of them could launch operations. 17 squadron was later changed to Gloucester "fighter" biplane and continued to participate in the war. Among them, there are five fighter planes driven by Wang, while Wang Senshui is in 194 13.
China Boeing 28 1 Fleet and Pilots
1935, Spain bought a Boeing 28 1 to evaluate its feasibility as the successor of Nieuport-Delage)NiD-52-52-52-52 fighter. On March 1935 and 10, a Boeing 28 1 without any equipment was transported to Ba Laha, Madrid, and the pilots of Boeing Company and the Western Front Army were jointly responsible for the test flight of the aircraft. Because Boeing offered a high price of 500,000 pesetas per plane, the Spanish government decided to abandon Boeing 28 1 and buy the production license of 50 Spanish Rage biplanes manufactured by Sisbano-Sousa from Hawke instead. 1936 Spanish Civil War broke out 18 In July, the unarmed Boeing 28 1 remained in Baraga, and the Irish Republican Army installed two .303 caliber Vickers machine guns under the wing for combat. The aircraft carried out several ground attack missions based at Getafe airport, one of which was completed by the aircraft in cooperation with a flight formation consisting of three Angry, four Devoitinne D.372, two 46 (Loire 46) and two NID-52. By the middle of 1936 and 10, the air power of the Spanish Republican Army at Getafe Airport was only one Angel, one Dvodinne and Boeing 28 1, 10 and 2 1, as well as Ramó n Paneni, a pilot of the Irish Republican Army. As a result, Pupani's plane was shot down and Pupani himself parachuted to escape. Some time later, the Spanish government (though not the buyer of Boeing 28 1) paid a $20,000 "royalty" to Wilbur Zhan Sen, the representative of Boeing Company, through its diplomatic mission in Paris.
194 1 After the United States was involved in World War II at the end of the year, the P-26 has become an authentic flying antique. In the summer of 194 1, all the "toy gun" troops stationed in the Philippines were replaced with P-35A fighters, while 12 retired Boeing P-26s were handed over to Batangas stationed in Luzon Island. The P-26A of the 6th Ejection Squadron was the only P-26 series aircraft that participated in World War II (in this case, it was a western standard), and the Philippine pilots who flew them showed respectable courage in the subsequent air combat. 194 1 65438+February 12, squadron leader Captain Willemo took the lead in shooting down a Mitsubishi G3M2 bomber over Batangas. 12 On February 23rd, Captain Jose Carre even shot down a Zero fighter, although it was a small success. Faced with the overwhelming superiority of the Japanese in quantity and quality, the P-26, like its nickname, became a useless toy gun. On the Christmas Eve of 194 1, the last surviving P-26 of the Philippine army set itself on fire to avoid falling into the hands of the Japanese army.
Boeing P-26 fighter of the 6th Ejection Squadron of Philippine Army Air Force.
P-26 stationed in Panama Canal Zone is the last survivor. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the US military still used them to carry out patrol missions along the canal. These 1 1p-26 were not replaced by new aircraft until 1943 and handed over to the Panamanian government. The "toy gun" equipped by the Guatemalan Air Force is in service until 1950 (replaced by the remaining American Mustang fighters). These P-26s were later repainted according to the fancy style of the US Army Aviation before the war, and now people can see them at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. ..
Boeing P-26A fighter equipped by Guatemala Air Force, and its subordinate units are stationed at arora Airport in Guatemala City.
Boeing P-26 "Toy Gun" is a famous model with milestone significance in American aviation history, although its figure is as brilliant and short as a meteor. P-26 was once the fastest fighter in the world, and its appearance opened the prelude to the great development of military aviation technology in the United States and even the world in the 1930s. However, it was this wave of the times that it led that eventually eliminated it mercilessly and cast a tragic color on it. No matter how the times change, the image of P-26 in the hearts of aviation enthusiasts is still beautiful. As long as people see it, they will have infinite nostalgia for that colorful time.
Parameter list of Boeing P-26A "Toy Gun"
Dragon:
23 ft 7.25 in (7. 19 m)
High:
10 ft 0.5 in (3.06 m)
Span:
27 ft 1 1.5 in (8.52 m)
Wing area:
149.5 square feet (13.89 square meters)
Empty weight:
2 197 lb (997 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight:
2,955 lbs (1340 kg)
Voyage:
360 miles (579 kilometers)
Cruise speed:
199 mph (320 km/h)
Maximum speed (7500 feet):
234 mph (377 km/h)
Service limit:
27,400 feet (8,350 meters)
Cost:
16567 USD
Engine:
Pratt &; Whitney R- 1340-27 engine