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WW II Army air corp experts...help!!!

babun
I think in my buying of estate sales items today, I've come across a 28"x30" photo that may be historically important. I think this photo is the the P26 "Peashooters" airplanes that were stationed at Wheeler Field in Hawaii, right before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The tail markings seem to match what I have so far found out about that squadron. If any of you have knowledge or pics of those planes could you help me out.
Here is a pic of the framed picture I have.
1000884m.jpg
Thanks, Bob

[img][/img]1000884m.jpg
By bobb1007 at 2011-02-12

I just took the pic out of the frame, and I found a framers mark that said "Shreveport, La."

The three bridges tell me it is not taken over Hawaii. But the tail markings look like Wheeler field marks...more questions arise.......
The other items in the estate sale that were with this pic are dated 1938 to 1940, but that does not make this pic the same date for sure.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • 45er
    Howdy babun,

    Surely wish could help, as for years myself been trying to find specific info on the Army Air Corps.... Pops was in the Corps during WW-2, but never spoke much about it, (understandable), 'cept to say the P-38 & C-47 were by far best in their class. But I keep running into dead-ends.
    Being possibly out of (historical indeed) Wheeler Field, you may have better luck finding records? It was suggested to me to visit any Air Force base, and may run across someone who can point in right direction, as they're big on civilian P.R. Military is big on it's history, too, and keeping records, i.e. mountains of "paper work" hah.
    Good hunting,
    45er
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  • Txs
    There was a P26 squadron based at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport LA.

    That could very well be downtown Shreveport and the Red River they're flying over, with Cross Lake off to the west in the background.

    The bend in the river fits this location, as well as the multiple bridges, the small canal above them and the profile of the lake dam.
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  • hrf
    I think Txs nailed it; from Wikipedia:

    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. A total of 20 P-26s were lost in accidents between 1934 and the start of World War II, but only five before 1940.

    Air Corps units using the P-26[4] were the:

    1st Pursuit Group (17th, 27th, and 94th PS), Selfridge Field, Michigan;
    8th Pursuit Group (33rd, 35th, and 36th PS), Langley Field, Virginia;
    16th Pursuit Group (24th and 78th PS), Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone;
    17th Pursuit Group (34th, 73d, and 95th PS), March Field, California
    18th Pursuit Group (6th and 19th PS), Wheeler Field, Hawaii;
    20th Pursuit Group (55th, 77th, and 79th PS), Barksdale Field, Louisiana; and
    3d Pursuit Squadron, Clark Field, Philippine Islands.
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  • babun
    You guys and this forum are the best....Thanks. I trying to find out about the tail markings now...
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  • sandwarrior
    Red strips with either yellow or white background was typical USAAC at the time. A lot of pre-war P-36's carried the markings as well as pre-war P-38's and P-40's.

    A good source for this stuff is to look for model decals. Always seems like they come first on a search and the actual records are buried somehere deep inside the bowels of the internet. But, modelers do enough hits to bring them up first.[;)]
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  • babun
    quote:Originally posted by sandwarrior
    Red strips with either yellow or white background was typical USAAC at the time. A lot of pre-war P-36's carried the markings as well as pre-war P-38's and P-40's.

    A good source for this stuff is to look for model decals. Always seems like they come first on a search and the actual records are buried somewhere deep inside the bowels of the internet. But, modelers do enough hits to bring them up first.[;)]

    Thanks, That is exactly where I found the Wheeler field markings, on a scale model website. Looks like the pic may not have been of the Pearl harbor planes. Oh well. It's still a great picture.
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  • sandwarrior
    Yes, that is a cool pic. Not very often ever that you will see that many P-26's in a formation. Certainly not that size formation anyways.

    That's classic Army aviation during the 'golden years' of aviation. I look at those years and say they were great but I'm a lot more impressed with the progress made during the war. We went from 1000 hp. fighters to 3000 hp fighters. Barely topping 300 mph to almost topping 500 mph. And, finally, pressurization. Almost an unknown before the war, a standard transport aircraft was pressurized after the war.
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  • txlawdog
    Really neat picture.
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  • v35
    I believe the Boeing Stratoliner, a prewar civil transport, was pressurized.
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  • sandwarrior
    quote:Originally posted by v35
    I believe the Boeing Stratoliner, a prewar civil transport, was pressurized.


    Yes they were, all ten of them. That's part of the "almost unknown" I referred to. The later DC-4's would begin the "all pressurized" fleets of post WWII. Convair 280, Lockheed Connie, Martin 4-0-4 and Boeing Stratocruiser{modified B-29} were also pressurized.
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