A definite departure from fences and flowers, captured 4/4/09, at the semibeautiful Chino Planes of Fame Museum in the semibeautiful Chino Airport in semibeautiful Chino, California. Did you ever see anything so beautiful? One of my favorites for years. I love the landing gear pants. Please excuse the annoying grain noise in the dark areas, but, like the rest of the hangers, it was dimly lit, so I opened the aperture all the way and slowed the shutter speed as much as possible without creating camera shake, but, unfortunately, the photos still came out dark. The flash provided some improvement, but not much. Ergo, tons and tons of postwork employed to bring this beauty out of the shadows. At least the museum has kept it in top-notch condition and still flyable. And, one of only two on display in the United States. Anyway, if and when I ever return to the scene, it's tripod and time exposure time in the old corral, folks. The Boeing P-26 was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. The prototype first flew on March 20, 1932, and were used by the Air Corps as late as 1941 in the Philippines. 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. Operational history U.S. Army Air Corps Formation of nine Boeing P-26s of the 20th Pursuit Group. Deliveries to USAAC pursuit squadrons began in December 1933 with the last production aircraft in the series coming off the assembly line in 1936, designated the P-26C. Ultimately 22 squadrons flew the Peashooter, with peak service being six squadrons in 1936. P-26s were the front-line fighters of the USAAC until 1938, when Seversky P-35s and Curtiss P-36s began to replace it. 20 P-26s were lost in accidents between 1934 and the start of World War II, but only five before 1940. Performance * Maximum speed: 234 mph (203 knots, 377 km/h) at 6,000 ft (1,800 m) * Combat radius: 360 mi (310 nm, 580 km) * Ferry range: 635 mi (550 nm, 1,020 km) * Service ceiling: 27,400 (8,350 m) Armament * Guns: 2 .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns * Bombs: 1 200 lb (90 kg) bomb Unit cost: $14,009 Source: Wikipedia encyclopedia Thankx for coming by, and have a serendipitous Sunday.