This is a subreddit for War Thunder, a cross platform vehicular combat MMO developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game is based around combined arms battles on air, land, and sea with vehicles from the Spanish Civil War to today. Dynamic Campaign Via selecting settings a historic campaign can be played were vehicles and missions are given by the game. After each sortie, the available missions change and the previous mission's impacts the military campaign on the strategic map. This campaign, based upon historical events, allows you to fight as a pilot in the U.S. Navy against the Imperial Japanese Air Forces in the battles of the Pacific Theatre. You will enjoy precisely reconstructed battles over the ground and ocean, photorealistic locations, and footage of historical chronicles. With this campaign you will also receive: YP-38 airplane. Premium account for 15 days. Dynamic campaign available for a squad (temporarily not limited to premium account) Record tables significantly reworked - the data should be the same as in profile (leader boards will be updated every day) Many of AI improvements Bots use FM similar to one of the player - both on undamaged and damaged aircraft. This is a subreddit for War Thunder, a cross platform vehicular combat MMO developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. The game is based around combined arms battles on air, land, and sea with vehicles from the Spanish Civil War to today.
Update 1.39 (changelog) was introduced on 15 April 2014. It is most notable for adding a number of new vehicles to the game, as well as introducing custom content, such as Custom skins and War Thunder CDK.
- 1New Vehicles
- 1.1Aircraft
- 2Game Changes
- 2.8FM changes
- 3Smaller updates that came afterwards
Aircraft
USA
Germany
USSR
- La-174 (special, available for a limited time)
- Spitfire Mk IX (special, premium, available for a limited time)
Great Britain
- Spitfire F Mk 22 (flight model not finished yet)
- Spitfire F Mk 24 (flight model not finished yet)
- Avenger Mk.1 (Premium)
Japan
Major additions
- New aircraft and missions
- Squadron battles in Events mode, squadron duel rating
- Players’ rating (“ladder”)
- User generated content support
- Progression system has been adjusted: new aircraft of the same rank take less time to unlock
- “Schräge Musik” available
- Separate fire control for the weapons of different calibres
- Significant improvements for AI behaviour
- Player stats and leaderboards will be reset to zero when the update comes out, but your stats will be restored in the next few days.Ground Forces events for the CBT players will become available shortly after the update is released.
War Thunder Single Player Campaign
Gameplay
- Squadron events and duel rating of the squadrons (calculated by the ELO system in the squadron battles in the Events mode) - preliminary version for the future Squadron Battles
- Separate fire control for different calibres on the planes. From now on a player can adjust separate controls for MGs and cannons with different calibres, as well as for gun pods on German fighters
- PvP player rating added (“ladder”) based on Silver Lions earned in battles.
- Dynamic campaign available for a squad (temporarily not limited to premium account)
- Record tables significantly reworked - the data should be the same as in profile (leader boards will be updated every day)
- Many of AI improvements
- Bots use FM similar to one of the player - both on undamaged and damaged aircraft
- After attacking ground targets bots can switch to players
- Bots do not go to the end of the map while chasing one another
- Bots use more correct torpedo attacks
- Bots evade air collisions more correctly
- Modifications’ effect on aircraft performance in Arcade Battles is fixed.
- F4F-3 and F4F-4 moved to rank 2
Economics and progression system
- Research system and speed to unlock new planes has been changed: to unlock ranks 2, 3, 4 and 5 player has to unlock 6 planes, but RP needed to unlock a new aircraft for ranks 2, 3, 4 and first aircraft of rank 5 is decreased by 25% or more. That means that all planes can be unlocked 25% faster.
- Costs for purchasing all aircraft modifications with Golden Eagles reduced by 5-10%
- RP conversion costs to research planes and modifications reduced by 12.5%
- Rewards for hits and kills reworked (in general they became higher); repair costs (in general) became lower.
- Battle rating adjusted for several planes for better balance (full list of changes)
Interface
- Significantly accelerated display of the map and the statistic screen in the battle
- The vehicle screen is reworked (repair/modifications/crew)
- Slightly changed the controls options interface (reset of the control theme to default and selection of the control presets now merged with option helper)
- You now can see player squads during the battle in the statistic screen
- Fixed the queue display in the events
- Added graphics options in the in-game options
- Gained RP display is fixed
- Performance characteristics displayed in game menu updated for certain planes
- Internet radio available from game menu
- Game menu fonts improved
Graphics and models
- Significantly optimized render on processors with 2 or less cores
- Improved and accelerated grass rendering
- Improved and optimized particle rendering
- Improved and optimized rendering of the landscape on Dx9/Dx11
- Improved OPENGL render
- Accelerated water rendering
- Accelerated cloud rendering in Dx11 (now not slower than in Dx9)
- New images for loading screens added
Sound
- Several errors fixed:
- Multichannel mode fixed;
- Sound when engine stops for Messerschmitt aircraft is synchronized with animation
- Sound added for Mollins M 57mm cannon
- New engine sound for Lancaster Mk.III
DM changes
- Engine DM fixed for A5M4, F1M2, Fiat Cr.42, Gladiator Mk.II, He.51 (all modifications), I-15 (all modifications), Nimrod Mk.I, Fury (all modifications), P-26 Peashooter (all modifications);
- Several fire outbreaks that would not go out at high speed fixed
- Correct DM for all new aircraft of the update
- Using flaps at high speed will tear them off
- DM fixed for Ki-102 and Ki-96;
- DM fixed for La-7 and La-7B-20;
- DM fixed for Hs.129B-2, Hs.129B-3;
- DM fixed for He.162A-2 flaps;
- Change in ammo rack or controlling wing guns when wing is torn off depends on where the ammo rack is situated, where guns are situated and where the wing was cut off.
FM changes
- Error with incorrect trimmer position at respawn fixed
- Control stiffening with mouse aim control fixed
- Control stiffening with joystick control changed - effective joystick movement range when controls are stiffened is increased
USA
- F8F-1 - completely corrected according to datasheets
- F8F-1b - completely corrected according to datasheets
- TBF-1C - adjusted according to data sheet
- Aircraft of F-86, F-80, P-63 series have preliminary adjusted FM. F9F-2 and F9F-5 have preliminary adjusted FM.
- Aerodynamic characteristics and overall controls improved for BTD-1, XP-50, P-38G, B-25
- F4U-1a has correct horizontal speed according to datasheet
Japan
- A6M2-N – completely corrected according to datasheets
- A6M2 — completely corrected according to datasheets
- A6M2 mod.22 — corrected according to datasheets
- A6M5 (all modifications) — adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-61 (all modifications) — adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-84 (all modifications) — aircraft power plant errors fixed, FM adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-43 II Hayabusa - completely corrected according to datasheets
- F1M2 - adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-45 - adjusted according to datasheets
- N1K2 -adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-96 - adjusted according to datasheets
- Ki-102 otsu - adjusted according to datasheets
USSR
- Yak-1b — preliminary corrected according to datasheets
- Yak-9K — preliminary corrected according to datasheets
- Yak-9T — preliminary corrected according to datasheets
- Yak-7b – completely corrected according to datasheets
- MiG-15, MiG-15 bis, Po-2 have preliminary adjusted FM
- I-185 FM for corrected
- IL-2 adjusted according to datasheets
- IL-2M adjusted according to datasheets
- IL-10 adjusted according to datasheets
- LaGG-3-8 i 11 adjusted according to datasheets
- MiG-9 (all modifications) have been preliminary adjusted
- Thermodynamics and roll rate fixed for La-5 and La-7 series
UK
- Hurricane Mk.I — completely corrected according to datasheets
- Fury Mk.I – turn time and engine overheat corrected
- All Gloster Meteor aircraft have preliminary adjusted FM
- Polar curve for Tempest Mk. V has been corrected
- Mosquito Fb. Mk 6/18 - adjusted according to datasheets
Germany
- FM of Bf.109 of the F- series fixed
- Bf. 110 C-4, Fiat Cr. 42, Me. 262 have preliminary adjusted FM
- FW-190 D overheat fixed
Modifications and armament
- Schräge Musik available for aircraft that actually used it (Do.217N-2, Ki-45 tei)
- Anti-g suits added for following fighters:: F9F, F-80, F-84, F-86, Meteor, Vampire, F8F-1, F8F-1b, P-51D-5, P-51D-20NA, P-51D-30
- Weapon reload time for MGs and cannons now depends on calibre, the higher the calibre the longer the reload:
- 7.62 mm - 15 seconds
- 12.7 mm - 20 seconds
- 20 & 23 mm - 40 seconds
- 30 mm - 60 seconds
- 37 mm - 60 seconds
- 45 mm - 60 seconds
- 47 mm - 60 seconds
- 57 mm - 60 seconds
- 75 mm - 60 seconds
- (* given reload time is true for new untrained crews)
- All torpedoes have been tuned according to maximum speed of drop:
- Mk.13 early modifications- 204 km/h
- Mk.13 late modifications - 519 km/h
- Type 9 mod. 2 - 481 km/h
- Type 9 mod. 3 - 648 km/h
- LT F5w - 300 km/h
- 45-36 AH - 250 km/h
- Mk.XII early modifications - 280 km/h
- Torpedo reload speed in arcade lowered from 80 seconds to 60 seconds
- A6M3 mod22 ko - pylon available for research added
- Ki-49 - navy bombs Type 97 replaced with Type 94 army bombs
- Meteor F.8 - 8x RP-3 rockets armament added
- Ki-45 - turret changed from Mg.15 to Type 98, cannon Type 97 replaced with Ho-3
- A6M5 otsu - correct 7.7 MG implemented - Type 97
- Rockets added for Bf.109F-2
- F-86 - MG ammo capacity is fixed - from 425 to 300
- F2A-1 - ammo capacity adjusted. Now it’s 600 rounds for 7.62 mm machine guns and 200 rounds for 12.7 mm machine guns
- BTD-1 - Mk.13 early mod. Is replaced with late mod.
- SM.79 mod. 1936 - side turrets changed: instead of Breda Safat 12.7 to Lewis 7.7
- SM.79 mod. 1943 - ammo capacity for rear turret MGs Breda Safat 12.7 changed from 500 to 350
- F6F-3 - Tiny Tim rockets added
- Do.217 series E, K, M - external pylons and respective bomb load added
- B-17G -external pylons and respective bomb load added
- Armament modifications fixed for DB-7
- Fire rate for MGs fixed for P-47D and P-51D
- Torpedo drop order changed for BTD-1, H6K4, PBY-5 - torpedo drop is separate for both Realistic and Simulator Battle modes
- Modifications’ durability fixed for P-63A-5 (USSR)
- La-9 - has option of separate cannon controls for wing mounted and nose mounted cannon ?
- Rocket armament added for Me.262A-1a
- Cannon pods’ positioning influence on the gun spread fixed
- Ammo fixed for Ki-96’s 37 mm cannon
Missions and maps
- New location “Kursk” added:
- 4 single missions for “Kursk”
- Dynamic campaign for “Kursk”
- RB and SB mission [Operation] Kursk added
- Bugs and balance fixes for existing missions New missions added for low ranked aircraft in RB and SB with light vehicles and shorter distances:
- Latish Convoy
- Bastogne
- Honolulu
- Last Battle of Khalkin Gol
- Counteroffensive
- Mozdok
- Yoo Passage
- Port Moresby
- Essen
- Consolidation of positions on Sicily
- Wake Island
- Henan Province
- Single Mission “Misty Coast”
Misc
- Support for user generated content
- Support for the user generated skins (only stored and seen on client computer, should be available for all aircraft)
- Support for user created single player missions
- Support for user created locations
- Support for the user created planes
- Support for user localization of the in-game texts
New decals
- National flags decals added (194 decals)
- Number decals added (unique for each country)
- 'Hell's Belle' pin-up, 401st Bombing Squadron, 91st Bombing Group, 8th Air Force
- 'Bomb Babe' pin-up, 866th Bombing Squadron, 494th Bomb Group, 7th Air Force
- 'Wolfess' pin-up, 364th Bombing Squadron, 305th Bombing Group, 8th Air Force
- 'Blue Sakura' personal victory marking of Saburo Sakai
- Blue-white roundel used by British and Commonwealth aircraft in the Far East
- Squadron Leader Pennant, No.242 Squadron RAF
- Wing Commander Pennant, Royal Air Force
- Personal motif of Pilot Officer 'Willie' McKnight, No.242 Squadron RAF
- 'ROYAL NAVY' text applied to the rear fuselage of aircraft from the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm
- Flt Lt 'Johnnie' Johnson, No.616 Sqn RAF: 'Bader's Bus Company Still Running' in honour of the recently shot down and captured Douglas Bader, summer 1941
- 'Swallow' victory markings of the 12th Kokutai 5, 15, 30 pcs.
- Roundel of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. 1929-1941
Historical Board Decal Competition winner decals
- 'Hell's Angel' pin-up by Jej 'CharlieFoxtrot' Ortiz
- 'Flying Tiger Gal' pin-up by Colin 'Fenris' Muir
- 'Werner Molders' 100th Victory' marking by Mathieu 'Iznogoud' Clairoux
- 'Samurai Spirit' pin-up by Colin 'Fenris' Muir
- 'The Regal Seagull' pin-up by J. L. 'ColorCopycat' Yeh
- 'The Red Banner of Victory' pin-up by J. L. 'ColorCopycat' Yeh
Additional Changes
- The Spitfire Mk IX (USA) price has changed to 6900 Golden Eagles
- Battle rating adjusted for several planes for better balance (full list of changes)
15.04.2014
- Rare Game client crash fixed.
- Mac client launch bug fixed.
17.04.2014
- Fixed grass growing on the airfield
- Fixed display of unfinished research
- Fixed output in the ratings for arcade
- Fixed crash on Mac OSX
- La-9 guns to the buttons binding corrected (available in settings without reconfiguring 1.37 controls)
- A6M (Zero) - control stiffening changed
- P47-D - reduced roll rate
- Series P-51D - the nominal mode is set to 61 'at 3000 rpm pressurization
- La-5F - updated FM and thermodynamics
- All known airfield bugs are now fixed
19.04.2014
Japanese Pacific Campaign War Thunder
- Several client crashes have been fixed
- MacOS client performance have been improved
- Fixed an issue where water will disappear with shadows turned off
- Fixed several OpenGL render issues
- Browser map has been fixed
- Changed the selection of the available countries interface in Custom Battles
- Changed the appearance of the rewards interface in the player profile
- Fixed Dx11 crashes
- Improved the appearance of the Research Point conversion screen
- Ammo belt description fixed
- Hangar view for Soviet Spitfire fixed
21.04.2014
- Several client crashes fixed
- Pedal animation in cockpit view for La-15/La-174 fixed
- Rare issue of aircraft's self-explosion in the air fixed
22.04.2014
- Several client crashes and errors have been fixed
- Fixed rare crash during Steam login
- Fixed terrain rendering on OpenGL renderer
- Fixed outside visuals of the models (small graphical issues based on bugreports)
- All Fw 190 versions
- Yak-9P model
- All Boomerang versions
- Updated cockpit models
- Cockpit of all Boomerangs
- A6M2 of all versions
- Me 163
- Added cockpit for Pe-3bis
- Flight Models
- MiG-15 rate of roll increased by 6 deg/sec to meet its reference data (86 deg/sec at 600 km/h at 5000 m)
- F-86 series engines thrust corrected to have more accurate optimal speed in a climb, according to reference data
- F-86 A-5 elevator stick force increased at higher speeds (as it lacked 'all-flying' tail)
24.04.2014
- Fixed landscape rendering (lines) on certain graphical settings of AMD videocards.
- Added and changed certain missions in the Realistic Modes (balance fixes and events).
- Many balance fixes have been done to the arcade tank event missions.
- Added possibility to spawn in planes in SB/RB tank events.
- Fixed bridges on the “Ash river” map.
- Flight Models
- Flight models of Fw 190 (series A, F and D) and Do 217 (N and J) updated (data sheets are published on the forum).
- Fixed problem of PBY-5a not being able to take-off from water.
25.04.2014
- Controls help bug fixed
- Crash after battle start fixed
- Crash in “complain” tab fixed
- CBT members have nations Germany and USSR unlocked.
- Bug with “Events” button not displayed fixed
- Disappearance of the tank in spectator mode fixed
- Fixed accuracy of tank cannons in realistic and simulation modes (increased for all the guns, now realistic accuracy is being used without any decreasing modifiers)
- Chance of ricochet for different hit angles with different shell types has been tuned (graphs on the dependence of the ricochet chance from the hit angle will be posted later)
- For tapered shells with a low hit angle, normalization now has a negative value (shell would be deflected away when hitting armour at extreme angles)
- Kinetic damage from armour-piercing shells with a 30mm caliber has been increased, also added a decrease on the penetration to distance calculation to a more accurate performance with player tank damage models (the damage before was calculated based on the simpler damage model of the AI controlled tanks)
- Fixed error in the high-explosive effect of the high-explosive aviation shells on 30mm calibres.
- Improved visual effects of the explosions from the large-caliber (37mm and more) aviation fragmentation shells on the ground.
- Fixed reliability parameter in N-37, the cannon is now able to shoot a whole ammunition load with a single burst without delays in the fire rate.
- Accuracy of the NC-37 has been increased by 30% in non-upgraded version.
- FM:
- F-86F-25 - preliminary tuning based on align='center' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='3'>Updates Closed Beta 1.17 ·1.25 Open Beta 1.27 ·1.29 ·1.31 ·1.33 ·1.35 ·1.37 ·1.39 ·1.41 ·1.43 ·1.45 ·1.47 ·1.49 ·1.51 ·1.53 ·1.55 ·1.57 ·1.59 ·1.61 ·1.63 Release 1.65 ·1.67 ·1.69 ·1.71 ·1.73 ·1.75 ·1.77 ·1.79 ·1.81 ·1.83 ·1.85 ·1.87 ·1.89 ·1.91 ·1.93 ·1.95 ·1.97 ·Starfighters ·Raining FireNew Power
This page is about the American fighter P-26A-34 M2. For other versions, see P-26 (Family). |
- 2General info
- 2.1Flight performance
- 3Armaments
- 4Usage in battles
- 5History
Description
The P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter is a rank I American fighter with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB) and 1.3 (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.
The P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter is a reserve fighter for the American aviation tree. Americans are known to use the Boom and Zoom tactic and most people recommend to use that same tactic for this plane.
The P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter's armament differs from the other American reserve planes in that it carries a single 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun with 200 rounds in the place of one of the 7.62 mm machine guns. This is the same set up as the P-36A and F3F-2. The 12.7 mm is more powerful, takes longer to overheat, has a longer reload time, and has a slightly lower rate of fire than the 7.62 mm.
General info
Flight performance
This plane is pretty manoeuvrable due to its small wings, and when you add the two 100 pound bombs it does not effect the manoeuvrability that much at all.
The speed however is pretty average for its rank, so you won't be breaking any speed records, but it is enough to survive long enough to get a few kills.
Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 2,286 m) | Max altitude (metres) | Turn time (seconds) | Rate of climb (metres/second) | Take-off run (metres) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
Stock | 364 | 351 | 8500 | 18.6 | 19.7 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 170 |
Upgraded | 387 | 377 | 17.7 | 18.0 | 18.6 | 12.0 |
Details
Features | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
X | X | ✓ | X | X |
Limits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
508 | 508 | N/A | N/A | 240 | ~11 | ~8 |
Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
< 260 | < 180 | < 340 | > 190 |
Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
---|---|---|
Setting 1 | ||
Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
1,829 m | 600 hp | 666 hp |
Survivability and armour
The P-26 is a typical mid-1930's design, and just like all the contemporaries (other Reserve fighters) does not have pilot armour, but is upgraded with self-sealing fuel tanks. Pilot, engine, and fuel is centrally located, but its simple design (no flaps and retractable gear) has less that could be damaged. Although a monoplane its speed is average to other Reserves, and do not dare turn fight. One major advantage is excellent visibility to easily spot threats in SB battles.
Armaments
Offensive armament
The P-26A-34 M2 is armed with:
- 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (200 rpg)
- 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (500 rpg)
Suspended armament
The P-26A-34 M2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (200 lb total)
Usage in battles
Generally, to do well in the P-26 never, ever turn fight, as it has a huge turning radius compared to other reserves. Ideally practice 'Boom & Zoom' tactics, that is climb above, dive in, attack, climb up again for a new attack. Also, use the 'Stealth' ammunition belt, it is the hardest hitting belt for this aircraft and targets will not see where you are, giving you another second or two advantage. Yes, stealth is harder to use, but it's worth it. While a mediocre at best reserve fighter, it is a very good ground attacker carrying 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs with 24.5 kg of TNT each, which is effective against even some Rank 3 tanks and Rank 2 ships.
A big plus to this P-26 variant is the .50 Cal M2 (12.7 mm) upgrade machine gun with 2.5x the penetration power making it much deadlier to targets (don't forget it will be on separate trigger).
Qualify the crew to 'Expert', it is very cheap (1,000 SL), and put CrewXP to Pilot Vitality (resist injury) and Weapon Maintenance, good to take and give damage.
Study your opponents, this is critical on how to counter them as there is no single way to counter all targets. The Japanese Ki-10 and Soviet I-15 are this aircraft's greatest threats, if they get on your six evade like crazy and hope they overshoot (never turn); teammates are also very helpful. Bombs with 0.5 delay could work. Others like the German He 51 you could outrun them, but do not turn. With higher BR units you may be just able to outmanoeuvre, bust the best is constantly scan the sky for threats. Other rank 1 aircraft vary in threat level. Besides fighters, attacking bombers is a viable option, however, be mindful of defensive turrets as there are a few 12.7 mm machine guns and 20 mm cannons out there.
Manual Engine Control
MEC elements | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
Oil | Water | Type | ||||
Not controllable | Not controllable Not auto controlled | Not controllable Not auto controlled | Not controllable Not auto controlled | Separate | Not controllable 1 gear | Not controllable |
Modules
Tier | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | Fuselage repair | Radiator | Offensive 7 mm | ||
II | Compressor | Airframe | New 7 mm MGs | Mk.41 | |
III | Wings repair | Engine | Offensive 12 mm | ||
IV | Engine injection | Cover | New 12 mm MGs |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Decently fast for its rank
- Good armament thanks to the use of a .50 calibre machine gun
- It is a monoplane reserve plane
- Turning is okay
Cons:
- Not as manoeuvrable as other fighters at its rank
- Slower than some late biplanes
- No armour
- Poor dive characteristics
- Poor energy retention
- Slightly worse climb rate than most reserve aircraft
History
The Boeing P-26 Peashooter was a plane both ahead of its time and quickly made obsolete. First flown in 1932, the P-26 is the oldest plane in the game. It was one of the first all-metal monoplanes adopted into military service in 1933 (in comparison, the He 51 and Ki-10 entered service in 1935), making it one of the fastest fighters in the world at the time, but it suffered from poor flight performance and dangerous landing characteristics. However, as newer fighters entered service around the world, the P-26s advantages diminished and its disadvantages became vulnerabilities. By the time of World War Two, the P-26 was hopelessly obsolete.
The P-26 saw the of its combat serving in the Chinese Nationalist Air Force during the Second Sino-Japanese War, against Japanese Ki-10s, and notably A5Ms in some of the first all-metal monoplane dogfights. Although it performed admirably in the pursuit role (bomber interception), in air-to-air combat with Japanese fighters, the deficiencies of the model showed.
In US service, the P-26 had a similar record. During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the P-26s scored only a handful of air-to-air kills against Japanese attackers. On December 24, 1941, their crews burnt the remaining planes to prevent their capture. Of the one hundred and fifty-one built, only nine airworthy P-26s remained on Christmas 1941, a single squadron defending the Panama Canal Zone, which was removed from service shortly after.
In-game description
Many problems were revealed when the P-26's operation began. Due to its narrow landing gear tread and a landing speed too fast for its time, the aircraft was prone to nose over. When this happened, the pilots often lost their lives, although the planes themselves were not seriously damaged. As a result, the fuselage spine fairing was redesigned. Its height was increased by 20 cm, and the reinforced structure could endure a load of more than 12 tons if hit. The 29th production P-26А was the first to obtain this enlarged fuselage spine fairing, and the planes already produced were modified directly on the front lines.
New wing flaps allowed the aircraft's landing speed to be reduced. The plane was also equipped, in the event of an emergency landing on water, with two inflatable sacks occupying the containers in the wing roots. Beginning at the 26th production aircraft, this equipment became standard for the P-26А, but it was not installed on the aircraft already produced. There is no documented evidence that this system was ever used for its intended purpose, but one aircraft crashed after the raft kit opened spontaneously during flight.
P-26Аs produced later had reinforced armament: one synchronous 7.62 mm Browning M1 machine gun to the left of the fuselage and one synchronous large-calibre 12.7 mm Browning M2.5 machine gun to the right. The magazine capacity of the large-calibre machine gun was 200 rounds.
A combined total of 111 machines of the P-26A variant were produced. The 20th Fighter Group was the first in the USAAC to be armed with Peashooters. It was followed by two more: the 1st Fighter Group based in Selfridge, Michigan, and the 17th Fighter Group at March Air Force Base, California. At various times, P-26s were operated in 22 USAAC fighter squadrons.
Peashooters were flown by many pilots who later occupied high positions in the USAAF and then in the USAF, including Henry Harley 'Hap' Arnold, future Commander-in-Chief of the USAF.
Media
- Videos
War Thunder Dynamic Campaign Logos
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Dewoitine D.500
- Mitsubishi A5M4
- Polikarpov I-16
- Heinkel He 112
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
- other literature.
Boeing Aircraft | |
---|---|
Aircraft | |
Fighters | P-26A-33 ·P-26A-34 M2 ·P-26B-35 |
Bombers | B-17E ·B-17E/L ·B-17G-60-VE |
B-29A-BN | |
Export | P-26A-34 |
Captured | ▅B-17E |
▂Tu-4* ·␗Tu-4* | |
*Unlicensed Reverse-Engineered B-29 | |
Helicopters | |
Attack | AH-64A ·AH-64D |
Export / Licensed | AH-64A Peten ·▄WAH-64D ·▅AH-64DJP |
See Also | Tupolev Design Bureau ·Westland Helicopters ·Fuji Heavy Industries |
For Boeing-built ships, see Boeing Marine Branch |
USA fighters | |
---|---|
P-26 Peashooter | P-26A-33 ·P-26A-34 ·P-26A-34 M2 ·P-26B-35 |
P-36 Hawk | P-36A ·Rasmussen's P-36A ·P-36C ·P-36G |
P-39 Airacobra | P-400 ·P-39N-0 ·P-39Q-5 |
P-40 | P-40C ·P-40E-1 ·P-40F-10 |
P-43 Lancer | P-43A-1 |
P-47 Thunderbolt | P-47D-22 RE ·P-47D-25 ·P-47D-28 ·P-47M-1-RE ·⋠P-47M-1-RE ·P-47N-15 |
P-51 Mustang | P-51 ·P-51A (Thunder League) ·P-51C-10 ·P-51D-5 ·P-51D-10 ·P-51D-20-NA ·P-51D-30 ·P-51H-5-NA |
P-63 Kingcobra | P-63A-5 ·P-63A-10 ·P-63C-5 ·␠Kingcobra |
Prototypes | XP-55 |
F2A Buffalo | F2A-1 ·Thach's F2A-1 ·F2A-3 |
F3F | F3F-2 ·Galer's F3F-2 |
F4F Wildcat | F4F-3 ·F4F-4 |
F4U Corsair | F4U-1A ·F4U-1A (USMC) ·F4U-1D ·F4U-1C ·F4U-4 ·F4U-4B ·F4U-4B VMF-214 |
F6F Hellcat | F6F-5 ·F6F-5N |
F8F Bearcat | F8F-1 ·F8F-1B |
Other countries | ▃Ki-43-II ·▃Ki-61-Ib ·▃A6M2 ·▃Bf 109 F-4 ·▃Fw 190 A-8 ·▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc |