The Insanely Weird-Looking US War Plane That Shocked Everyone

The Boeing P-26 Peashooter is an aircraft known for its compact yet innovative design, combining agility and speed.

During dogfights, pilots used every bit of the plane’s agility and toughness, challenging more superior Japanese Zeroes as this underdog battled for survival.

Early Days

During the development process, a vital revision of the design was a result of a tragedy. During a routine landing, one of the P-26 prototypes disastrously flipped onto its back, leading to a fatal injury of the test pilot.

This highlighted the vulnerabilities of the P-26’s low wing design which exposed pilots to significant risks during accidents. Engineers reconfigured the pilot’s headrest, raiding it by eight inches and internally reinforcing it. This modification enhanced pilot safety, giving the P-26 its unique humpback silhouette- the plane’s most recognizable feature. In January 1933, the Peashooter was officially ordered into production.

The Peashooter

Despite its advanced features over earlier models, the plane received mixed reactions. Its nickname, the Peashooter was initially borne out of disdain, referring to the distinctive blast tube of its two internally mounted machine guns. At this point, many pilots still favored the handling characteristics of biplanes and were initially skeptical of the new monoplane’s flying attributes.

The Peashooter was a compact powerhouse, measuring 23 ft. and 7 inches long, with a wingspan of 2 ft. It had an empty weight of 2,271 pounds and a loaded weight slightly exceeding 3,000 pounds. It’s armed with two synchronized machine guns mounted on the cockpit floor, it was a formidable presence in the skies. It’s made up of two .30 caliber machine guns and a .30 coupled with a .50 caliber machine gun. It could also carry up to 2,000 pounds of bombs under the fuselage, ready for deployment during combat.

Unique Paint Scheme

The Peashooter was also notable for its vivid and distinctive paint schemes, reflecting operational utility and showcasing early military aviation spirit. This included chrome yellow wings and tail, paired with a blue fuselage to create a striking contrast.

The rudder bore a patriotic pattern- a blue vertical stripe on the leading edge, flanked by 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes, representing the original US colonies. Between 193 and 1934, the Air Corps acquired 139 Peashooters including three prototypes.

Role in the War

The P-26s were among the first US planes to engage with invading Japanese forces after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Despite being outclassed by more modern Japanese fighters such as the Japanese Zero, the brave P-26 pilots managed to conduct several defensive sorties during the initial stages of the Japanese invasion.

One notable engagement was a group of P-26s intercepting a formation of Japanese bombers targeting American positions. The pilots utilized hit-and-run tactics, leveraging the Peashooter’s maneuverability and the strategic advantage of local knowledge to disrupt the bombers, mitigating the damage to American ground forces.

As the war went on, the P-26 quickly became obsolete because of advancing technology and was replaced by more capable fighters. However, its role during the early days of the Pacific theater gave important data that influenced the development of subsequent American fighter planes that were much faster and heavily armed.