The Boeing Model 15 is a

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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 (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

of the 1920s, manufactured by the

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

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 warf ...

(as the PW-9 series) and with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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

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Agreement ending

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

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

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 became available the aircraft was redesigned, moving the

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger 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-3A 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 ri ...

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, and in the

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with the 4th Composite Group at Clark Field,

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. 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), and was assigned to Marine Corps squadrons VF-1M, VF-2M, and VF-3M, 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 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 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

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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 a Packard 1A-1500 engine. Boeing Model 58. ;AT-3 :Designation of one PW-9A (ser no. 26-374) converted to single-seat trainer with a 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 the 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 a Packard 2A-1500 engine. ;FB-6 :FB-4 re-engined with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-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

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Specifications (PW-9)

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

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Instructions for the Assembly and Maintenance of the Boeing Single Seat Pursuit and Fighter Airplanes
– manual for the PW-9 and FB-1/FB-5 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boeing Model 15 1920s United States fighter aircraft 015 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1923 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear