DISCLAIMER:This item is subject for inventory availability verification.There may be cases where you have been able to order a product and we will run out of stock before we can update our store. In the event of this case, our customer service team will contact and notify you via email. 

Scale: 1/24
Wingspan: 14"
Length: 12"
Code: AP26T

This collectable model Boeing P-12 represents a milestone for the U.S. military – its first all-metal monoplane fighter. Painstakingly built from Philippine mahogany by our skilled craftsmen, this 1/24-scale model P-12 makes a great pilot gift or a present for any veteran, aviation enthusiast or history buff. The P-26 Peashooter is an aircraft that represents a transition between the old and new. As the first all-metal monoplane in U.S. Service, it was clearly a sign of things to come – yet it retained an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and wire-braced wings.

The Boeing-funded project to produce the Boeing Model 248 began in September 1931, with the Army Air Corps supplying engines and instruments. The design included an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and externally braced wings, the last such design procured by the USAAC as a fighter plane. It also saw the introduction of flaps to reduce speeds for landings. The Army Air Corps contracted for three prototypes, designated XP-936, with the first flight on 20 March 1932.

The Boeing XP-936 had a landing problem. Sometimes when landing it would flip forward and because of the short nose it would roll onto its back. This injured many pilots until the unarmored back canopy was replaced with an armored headrest. An additional 25 aircraft were completed as P-26Bs, with Pratt & Whitney R-1340-33 Wasp engines, and 23 P-26Cs had minor changes to carburation and the fuel system. Both Spain (one fighter) and China (11 fighters) ordered the Model 281 export version of the P-26C in 1936.

The diminutive "Peashooter" as it became affectionately known by service pilots, was faster than previous American combat aircraft, but it was also an anachronism. Although the P-26 introduced a modern monoplane design, worldwide fighter aircraft developments soon outstripped the P-26. In Europe the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Hawker Hurricane with closed cockpits and which both flew for the first time in 1935 were more representative of contemporary monoplane fighter designs. However, the P-26 was easy to fly and remained in active service for many years until the United States entered World War II.