The Boeing Model 15 was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

single-seat open-cockpit

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

of the 1920s, manufactured by the

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

company. The Model 15 saw service with the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

(as the PW-9 series) and with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as a carrier-based fighter (as the FB series).

Design and development

The design of the Model 15 was based on studies of the

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

, of which 142 were brought back to the U.S. for evaluation as part of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

Agreement ending

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Many of the features were similar. The Model 15 had a

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

of welded steel tubing braced with piano wire, while the tapered single bay wings were fabric on a wooden frame, with spruce and mahogany wing spars and three-ply wood ribs. Wing struts were changed from the normal wood used in Boeing designs to streamlined steel tubes. The landing gear had a straight axle, streamlined into a small chord wing. The original engine was a Wright-Hispano, but when the liquid-cooled

Curtiss D-12 The Curtiss D-12, sometimes identified with the military designation Curtiss V-1150, was an aircraft engine of 18.8 liter displacement. It was a water-cooled V12, producing 443 hp (330 kW) and weighing 693 lb (314 kg). It wa ...

became available the aircraft was redesigned, moving the

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

from the nose to a "tunnel" under the engine. Along with some other minor design changes to the wings, the design was finalized on January 10, 1922. The Army expressed interest in the new design, and agreed to provide armament, powerplants, and test the aircraft, while leaving Boeing the rights to the aircraft and design. The contract was signed on April 4, 1923 and the first prototype, designated ''XPW-9'' for "Experimental Pursuit, Water-cooled engine", flew on June 2, 1923. The XPW-9 competed with the Curtiss Model 33 for contracts for a pursuit aircraft to replace the

Thomas-Morse MB-3 The Thomas-Morse MB-3 was an open-cockpit biplane fighter primarily manufactured by the Boeing Company for the U.S. Army Air Service in 1922. The MB-3A was the mainstay fighter for the Air Service between 1922 and 1925. Development In March 1918 ...

A in the

.Bowers 1989, p.82. Ultimately, both models were accepted; the Curtiss aircraft was designated PW-8 and the Model 15 PW-9. The Air Service preferred the PW-9, which outperformed the PW-8 in all performance aspects except speed, and was built on a more rugged and easier to maintain design, ordering 113 aircraft (only 25 PW-8s were procured). A naval version was also developed, designated FB, and 44 aircraft produced.

Operational history

Deliveries of the first 25 PW-9s began on October 30, 1925. Boeing delivered a total of 114 PW-9s of all variants including prototypes to the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

between 1925 and February 1931. Virtually all PW-9s served with overseas units, in

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with the 5th Composite Group at Luke Field and later the 18th Pursuit Group at

Wheeler Field Wheeler Army Airfield , also known as Wheeler Field and formerly as Wheeler Air Force Base, is a United States Army post located in the City & County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii. It is a National His ...

, and in the

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with the 4th Composite Group at Clark Field,

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

. PW-9s equipped the 3rd, 6th, and 19th Pursuit Squadrons between 1925 and 1931. The FB-1, of which the Navy ordered 16 but received only ten between December 1 and 22, 1924,Bowers 1989, p. 84. was not modified for naval operations (for instance, no

arresting hook A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook is a device attached to the empennage (rear) of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at se ...

), and was assigned to Marine Corps squadrons VF-1M, VF-2M, and

VF-3M Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 (VMFA-232) is a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Nicknamed the "Red Devils", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California and falls under the command of Marine Aircra ...

, being deployed to

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in support of the Marine Expeditionary Force.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.55. Two additional planes—designated FB-2—were altered to operate on the carrier with the addition of arresting gear and a straight-across axle for the landing gear. These went into service with

VF-2 Strike Fighter Squadron 2 (VFA-2) also known as the "Bounty Hunters" is a United States Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Their tail code is NE and their callsign is "Bullet". They a ...

in December 1925. Generally satisfactory results led to an order for 27 FB-5s, which became the Navy's first fighters intended specifically for carrier operation. They were upgraded to

Packard 2A-1500 The Packard 1A-1500 was an American 12-cylinder liquid-cooled 60-degree Vee piston aircraft engine designed in 1924.Gunston 1989, p.109. Test flown in the second prototype Douglas XO-2 it proved to be unreliable. Only 29 engines w ...

engines, and sported a row of hooks on the bottom of the axle, used to guide the plane via cables on the deck. The FB-5 first flew October 7, 1926 and was delivered to the Navy beginning in the following January, carried on barges in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

from Boeing's factory to ''Langley'' anchored in Seattle's harbor. Hoisted aboard, their first official flights were from the carrier's deck.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.56

Production history

Of the 158 aircraft built, 147 were standard production aircraft and the remaining were aircraft developed for specific interests. The production runs are shown below with the PW designations for Army aircraft and the FB designations being for the Navy.

Variants

;XPW-9 :Three prototypes built for Air Service evaluation. First aircraft scrapped at McCook Field on February 21, 1925, second static tested in October 1928 and the third was still flying in December 1928.Bowers 1966, p.69. ;PW-9 :30 produced 1925-26, first production variant, D-12 engine. ;PW-9A :24 produced 1926-27, D-12C engine. ;PW-9B :One modified PW-9A, delivered as PW-9B in 1927. ;PW-9C :40 produced 1927-28, D-12D engine. ;PW-9D :16 produced 1928-34, final production variant. ;XP-4 :Designation of one PW-9 (ser no. 25-324) re-engined with Packard 1A-1500 engine. Boeing Model 58. ;AT-3 :Designation of one PW-9A (ser no. 26-374) converted to single-seat trainer with Wright-Hispano engine. Boeing FB-1

;FB-1 :Ten built as FB-1s from initial order of 16, remaining six modified to other sub-types (FB-2, FB-3, FB-4). Powered by a Curtiss D-12. Initial Navy delivery, shore-based only. ;FB-2 (Model 53) :Two FB-1s modified for carrier operation, Packard 1A-1500 engine. Later converted to FB-1 standard. Boeing FB-5

;FB-3 (Model 55) :Three built to evaluate Packard 1A-1500 engine. Like the FB-4, the FB-3 was fitted with floatplanes. Following a crash in December 1925, the remaining two were converted to conventional landing gear. ;FB-4 (Model 54) :One built, experimental model with a Wright P-1 radial engine and fitted with floatplanes. Later converted to FB-6 standard. ;FB-5 (Model 67) :27 built, production version. Powered by Packard 2A-1500 engine. ;FB-6 :FB-4 re-engined with a

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...

-B Wasp engine. ;FB-7 (Model 67A) :Development of FB-5, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-A Wasp engine, not built. ;XFB-5 (Model 97) :Designation for one FB-5 (''A-7101'') used for development tests in 1927.

Operators

; *

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Specifications (PW-9)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *Lloyd S. Jones, ''U.S. Naval Fighters'' Fallbrook CA: Aero Publishers, 1977, pp. 35–38. . *Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. London: Putnam. Second edition 1976. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boeing Model 15 1920s United States fighter aircraft 015 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1923