Technological development is an evolutionary process. The transition between one era and another can sometimes be symbolized by the introduction of a single product. In that sense, Boeing's P-26 Peashooter embodied the transition from the highly maneuverable, stick-and-wire fighter biplanes of World War I to the fast, all-metal monoplane fighters of World War II. The prototype first flew in 1932, and the type was still in use with the U.S. Army Air Corps as late as 1941 in the Philippines.
Boeing's P-26 was a milestone in three respects. It was the first U.S. Army Air Corps fighter to incorporate several important design features that would become standard on aircraft subsequently used in World War II. To placate conservative elements in the Air Corps, however, the P-26's designers were constrained to include several anachronistic features in the airplane that hampered its development potential. The Peashooter was also to be the last fighter aircraft mass-produced by Boeing before the company went on to bigger things, in both the figurative and the literal sense.
Revised for RF7. Fly with the rate switch in the “high” position. Flies and lands well with or without flaps. A fairly good flying model.