Boeing’s first and last all-metal monoplane fighter produced for the US Army Air Corps. was the P-26. Known as the “Peashooter” there were 111 P-26As produced. The wings were braced with wire instead of wooden struts and this reduced drag and along with a 500 hp engine the aircraft was much faster than the older bi-planes. The mono-wing also meant a higher landing speed so flaps had to be added to slow the aircraft down. It had fixed landing gear and an open cockpit with just a windscreen to protect the pilot.

The Aircraft

The first group to replace their Boeing P-12’s with the new Boeing P-26A was the 20th PG in 1933. The P-26 was used until February 19, 1935. The 20th PG was stationed at Barksdale Field, later Barksdale AFB, in Louisiana named after a WWI veteran 2nd Lt. E.H. Barksdale. The airfield was used by fighter and attack pilots to practice their gunnery and bombing. The tail code for the 20th PG was PT where P stood for Pursuit while T is the 20th letter of the alphabet.