The Insanely Weird-Looking US Warplane That Shocked Everyone

Technological development is an evolutionary process, and the Boeing P-26 Peashooter is a perfect example of this transition, marking the shift from the biplanes of World War 1 to the all-metal monoplane fighters that would dominate World War 2.

In December 1941, over the Pacific skies, the Boeing P-26, America’s first all-metal monoplane fighters, scrambled to defend against an advancing enemy. These planes, with their distinctive open cockpits and fixed landing gear, faced off against the swift and agile Japanese Zeroes.

Dubbed the Peashooter for its compact but innovative design, this aircraft combined agility and speed. In the chaos of dogfights, the Peashooter's pilots exploited every bit of their aircraft's agility and toughness, challenging the technologically superior Zeroes—this underdog battled for survival, leaving behind a legacy of determination and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.

---

Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.

All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

[monroetruss]

The summer of 1967 a WWI colonel offered me $5.00 to sweep a small warehouse and his small brick home beside it. While I swept the warehouse he sat and chatted with me. He talked of trench warfare, the misery of trench foot, the black-market, and early aviation. He was an interesting old man and I tried to soak up every word. Flight was in still in its infancy, while mainly used early on as reconnaissance, pilots would carry a 45 pistol, a grenade or 2, and a couple of bricks. Bricks I asked? He laughed and said yes. He said many wings were no more than cloth or very light material and if he found advantage he could throw a brick through the wing and down the pilot. Grenades were meant for machinegun nest, and the 45 was for dog fights. As the war dragged on aviation improved, and mounted gun were added. I've rattled on long enough and won't bore you any longer, but he relayed many stories, I'd have paid to listen to. He was a good old man.

[Tom-Lahaye]

It was the most adorable fighter plane ever made, there is one flying example which I have seen at an air show at Duxford, UK and the bright colour scheme coupled with the popping sound of the engine makes it something special amongst the warbirds.

[mowgli]

The aircraft survived because it was too cute to shoot down

[keithallver]

Even though it was obsolete by the start of WW2 the P-26 was one of the few planes that could out-turn a Zero.

[johnathandavis]

A fella had one of these at the Chino Air Show a couple years ago. I love this little aircraft, and it was a treat to see it flying. I got to touch it too🤗

[garyrivera]

My father 1 Lt. Alfonso Rivera of the Philippine Army Air Corps flew the Peashooter. The Zeros flew circles around him. He went on to fight as a guerilla and had his best revenge as a forward air control flying an L4.

[deaddocreallydeaddoc]

It was dubbed "The Pea Shooter" because of its long sight tube. I'm surprised this video missed that one. Also, I'd love to know where the P-26 fought Japanese planes. My guess would be the Philippines, but I've never heard of it before.

[thepuffin-ssln]

Every now, and then there's a machine that is so clearly from one specific era. The peashooter was such a machine. Wild looking and stylish. So clearly of the early art decco period

[johnathandavis]

I can't imagine what it was like operating this against Zeros....

[tolik]

The interwar years were full of strange looking things everywhere . Explosions in technology, and developement, not seen sense modern times .

[Groffili]

"Insanely Weird-Looking"?
Nah... ICONIC!

[edwardpate]

I've always loved this aircraft. I built a model of one as a kid painted in the livery of the 1st pursuit group at Selfridge Field Michigan which is just a stones throw from me. They do have one at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in OH.

[peoplehavetherights]

It's a Boeing P-26, I remember making scale models if them at about 12-16 years old, radial air-cooled engine, not much longer were retractable landing gear, no outside wires, and closed canopies were coming soon in this era.

[billwendell]

Agile yes, speed not really. It was obsolete when they starting drawing it. Willy was already working on the 109. It's bomber brother the B10 could out run it. Which is why everyone thought it was state of the art.

[christopherpardell]

About 15 years ago the San Diego Air and Space Museum gathered a bunch of old geezers who had been engineers or workers in old aircraft factories of yore and had them build, From Scratch, a brand new P-26. They hand formed and stamped every single aluminum part and riveted it all together. The original plane had custom designed tires that were more aerodynamic since they stuck out the bottom of the cowling. And there was only ONE of these tires left in the world, and it was so ancient that no one wanted to fill it with air for fear it would burst. ( the Smithsonian had an original P-26 but it sported motorcycle tires that were not correct )
These geezers came to me to make a set of molds and a method for casting FAKE tires made of solid urethane… like inline skate tires- except they had to match the originals in look. Luckily we had that one tire to make a mold from. The tires did not have to fly, but they DID have to be robust enough that the plane could be wheeled around on them. Me and their engineers designed a means to cut a stearman hub in half to be able to mount a solid urethane tire- and I designed a wooden core for the cast urethanes to distribute the load and prevent the urethane from splitting under load.
We cast 4 usable tires, two are on the plane in San Diego. The other two they sent to the Smithsonian, but I don’t know if they mounted them on their P-26

[pyrtwistPyrtwistWorldInMotion]

Excellent video. Love all the history put into to this. I really love pre-war livery of these planes.

[daystatesniper]

Excellent once again Dark mostly relevant film and info , keep it up

[BOB]

Wow what an ending. I watched every second of this and the ending is awesome

[stanleybest]

Episode details. One of your early top wing planes on this show is a Flying Quaker, a free flight model. The P26 was externally a copycat of a pylon racer, but more advanced in materials. It was not just a stepping stone, but a shrewd and nimble plane all in itself. It desperately lacked a locking tailwheel.

[leonardwilliams]

I would never call a P-26 weird looking. Jaunty, sporty, classic, but never weird.