OT-Just a sexy little thing.

[crsutton]

I would give anything to fly one.

https://youtu.be/3zXkVQnVmuo

[m10bob]

To think...Those things were used against Zekes in the Phillipines!!

The designers sure did not know the headrest was a real "drag" on the wind!!.Wonder what the wheel pants did for the weight to power ratio..At least the wing between a Fokker D VII's wheels provided lift!!


Thank you for the link...I had no idea there were still flying examples!!

(Now...about my B 19...)[:'(]

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Well it was designed in the early 1930s... and when it entered active service in 1933, it was the 1st US all metal monoplane. It was a good plane, faster than anything they had before.

Of course, it was completely obsolete by 1941, but notice it was not in USAAF service at that time. Instead, it was flown by the Philippine Army Air Corps.

And it was not unusual to give the colonial armies very obsolete/ inadequate equipment; just look at the planes being used by the Manchukuo air force or the British Commonwealth

[crsutton]

Yes, not really a WWII aircraft at all. But very lovely design. Almost art deco in appearance.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Yes, not really a WWII aircraft at all. But very lovely design. Almost art deco in appearance.

Aye. Like so many of those art deco designs, it looks designed to decapitate the pilot as a feature.

[wdolson]

There are only two left in the world Planes of Fame has one and the Smithsonian the other. I've seen the P-26 fly at airshows. They only fly it a couple of times a year. Planes of Fame also has a flying P-12 (painted as an F4B4). One time when I was a kid we went to Chino and the P-26 was taxing around between the hangers. The guy at the controls was a teenage Steve Hinton who hadn't gotten his pilots license yet. Since then Hinton has gotten a rep as the go to guy for flying rare restored aircraft. He was the guy called in to fly Glacier Girl (the only restored P-38E) on its first flight. He was a childhood friend of the Maloney kids and grew up at Planes of Fame.

Bill

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

To think...Those things were used against Zekes in the Phillipines!!

The designers sure did not know the headrest was a real "drag" on the wind!!.Wonder what the wheel pants did for the weight to power ratio..At least the wing between a Fokker D VII's wheels provided lift!!


Thank you for the link...I had no idea there were still flying examples!!

(Now...about my B 19...)[:'(]

Not only used against Zeke's, but actually shot 2 or 3 down, along with a G3M.

[jcjordan]

In the early 2000's someone did a limited production run from original drawings of a few a/c. I happened to see one for sale a yr or so ago

[czert2]

well, i will rather fly spifire, fw 190, zero, hellcat, bearcat (sorry no frogs or spagheti there).

[wdolson]

You have to compare aircraft to their contemporaries. The P-26 was one of the world's best fighters when it was new. It was hopelessly obsolete by the beginning of WW II.

Bill

[Anthropoid]

Thing constantly sounds like it is going to stall . . .[:(]

"Restored" or not, takes balls to go up in a plane older than your Grandpa.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Anthropoid

Thing constantly sounds like it is going to stall . . .[:(]

"Restored" or not, takes balls to go up in a plane older than your Grandpa.

Sounds just like a race car, barely running at idle, but purrs when you bring it up to high speeds. That engine is designed for high speeds.