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P-12 #
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Photo: Robert Deering 9/3/2011 Seattle Museum of Flight King County International Airport (BFI) Seattle, Washington |
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Developed by the
Boeing Aircraft Co. at its own expense, the
P-12 was became one of the most successful
American fighters produced between the World
Wars. Flown by both the Army and the Navy
(as the F4B), the P-12 series consisted of
an initial version and five additional
models, B through F. The early versions used
fabric-covered fuselages of bolted aluminum
tubing, but the P-12E and F fuselages
employed an all-metal, semimonocoque
(stressed skin) construction. However, the
P-12 did not complete the evolution into an
all-metal aircraft because all variants had
wooden wings with fabric covering. The U.S. Army Air Corps received its first P-12 in February 1929 and the last P-12F in May 1932. The last of the biplane fighters flown by the Army, some P-12s remained in service until 1941. Boeing produced 366 P-12s for the Army, with more P-12Es built (110) than any other series. The P-12E on display (at the Air Force Museum) served with the 6th Pursuit Squadron in Hawaii during the 1930s, and the Army retired it in 1940. Marcellus Foose and Glen Courtwright of Oaklawn, Ill., donated it to the museum in 1973, and museum specialists completed restoration in 1983. |
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