Hamilton Standard

Hamilton Standard

An abstract of a propellor blade on a Boeing P-26A on display at the National Museum of the USAF.

Here's the tech head geek infor from the USAF Museum site.

The P-26A was the first all-metal monoplane fighter (pursuit plane) produced in quantity for the U.S. Army Air Corps, affectionately called the "Peashooter" by its pilots. It was also the last Army Air Corps pursuit aircraft accepted with an open cockpit, a fixed undercarriage, and an externally braced wing. Significantly faster in level flight than previous fighters, the P-26A's relatively high landing speed caused the introduction of landing flaps to reduce this speed.

Boeing initially designed the P-26 in 1931, designating it first as Model 248 and in December 1931 as the XP-936. The company provided three test airframes, which remained Boeing property, with the frugal Air Corps providing the engines, instruments, and other equipment. The first flight occurred on March 20, 1932. The Army Air Corps purchased the three prototypes and designated them as P-26s. The Air Corps purchased a total of 111 of the production version, designating them as P-26A, and 25 of later -B and -C models.

The P-26 was the Army Air Corps front-line fighter before it was replaced during 1938-40 by the Curtiss P-36A and the Seversky P-35. An export version was sold to China in 1934 where it was used against the Japanese. It was also used by the Philippine government against the Japanese in December 1941 when all were destroyed in combat.

This P-26A reproduction is painted to represent the commander's aircraft of the 19th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group, stationed at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, in 1938.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 27 ft. 11.5 in.
Length: 23 ft. 10 in.
Height: 10 ft. 5 in.
Weight: 2,197 lbs. empty/2,955 lbs. (max.)
Armament: Two fixed .30 caliber machine guns or one .50 and one .30 caliber machine gun; up to 200 lbs. of bombs
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1340-27 "Wasp" radial of 500 hp.
Crew: One
Cost: $16,567

PERFORMANCE
Max. speed: 234 mph/203 knots
Cruising speed: 199 mph./172 knots
Range: 360 statute miles/313 nautical miles
Service ceiling: 27,400 ft.