P-26 serial number 33-123 was delivered to the United States Army Air Corps at Boeing Field, Washington on June 16, 1934. Its first assignment was to serve with the 27th Pursuit Squadron of the 1st Pursuit Group based at Selfridge Field, Michigan, carrying squadron number 23 on the vertical fin. The aircraft was assigned to 27th P.G. Operations officer Lt. Thayer S. Olds.
In its day 33-123 was a very advanced design but aircraft technology was advancing by leaps and bounds and by 1937 more advanced aircraft were being assigned to the 27th Pursuit Squadron. At this time 33-123 was being reassigned to the 20th Pursuit Group based at Barksdale, Louisiana. Finally 33-123 was shipped to the Panama Canal Zone to serve with the 16th Pursuit Group which was Guarding the Panama Canal.
In 1940 the 16th Pursuit Group was reequipped with more advanced P-36 Mohawks and the P-26’s were being handed over to the air force of Panama,
serving with that nation until 1943.
May 1943 saw 33-123 and Panama’s remaining P-26’s transferred to the country of Guatemala with 33-123 serving first as a front line fighter and later went on to serve as an advanced trainer until the mid 1950’s when the last two P-26’s were phased out of service following 20 years of active duty.
Ed Maloney had been searching for a P-26 Peashooter
It might have seemed that this would be the end of the story for 33-123 but fate intervened. In 1955 Ed Maloney had been searching for a P-26 Peashooter when a friend informed him that there might be a surviving P-26 in Panama. Mr. Maloney in turn contacted a representative of the Panamanian Air Force and was informed that all of their P-26’s had been sold to the Government of Guatemala years before.
After contacting the head of the Guatemalan Air Force, Mr. Maloney was informed that several P-26’s remained in that country and soon afterward a deal was struck that released 33-123 for sale to Mr. Maloney. 33-123 was then disassembled, crated and transported to the United States, arriving in Long Beach, Calif.in 1957.
The P-26 was on display for a few years while still wearing Guatemalan markings, then in 1962 the museum board made the decision to restore 33-123 to airworthy condition. Between the services of a dedicated group of volunteers and the sponsorship of numerous corporations, the epic restoration was completed with the return to the air of P-26 33-123 in September 1962. Having received a new lease on life, 33-123 soldiered on throughout the 1960’s, but eventually the aircraft was returned to static display.
The star attraction
All of this changed again in 2006. The decision was again made to restore 33-123 to airworthy condition for the Fighter Command themed upcoming air show in May of that year. An inspect and repair as necessary program was initiated and by early May of 2006 33-123 was again airborne just in time for the airshow in which it was the star attraction.
Today the P-26 is still flown on rare occasions and may be seen on display at the Planes of fame air museum in Chino, California. The aircraft is currently wearing the markings of the 95th Pursuit Squadron that operated out of nearby March Field near Riverside, California, during the 1930’s.
