A perfect vintage original photo of the prototype Boeing Model 101 Air Corps XP-12A, AC29-362, The ship was the last item in a P-12 Model 89 contract that resulted from Air Corps testing of the Navy’s XF4B-1 and was so much modified that it earned a the experimental classification and new model number. First flight took place 11 APR 1929. Quite a rare photo as the aircraft was destroyed in a Wright Field mid-air collision after less than four hours of flight time. An original vintage black and white 8 X 10 photograph in perfect condition with a slight discoloration along the top edge from the news release that had been glued to the reverse. The nimble Air Corps P-12 series of Boeing biplane fighters and their F4B U. S. Navy counterparts were some of the most beautiful of America’s pre-WWII biplanes. The history of this famous family of fighters began with the first flight of the Boeing Model 83 on 25 JUN1928 which was designed to replace the AC PW-9 and Navy F2B and F3B. The Models 83, 89, 99, 100, 100A, 100D, 100E, 100F, 101, 102, 102B, 218, 222, 223, 227, 234, 235, 236 and 256 represent a long family life and some of the aircraft were still around during WWII, serving as classroom models in various schools. One of the aircraft, the B218 prototype for the P-12E/F4B-3 was lost in combat against the Japanese over Shanghai in 1932 after volunteer pilot Robert Short shot down two of three attacking Japanese aircraft. This photo, like most of the 4000+ manufacturer, national archives, Air Corps, USAAF, USN, USMC and USCG aviation photos in my collection, came from author and pre-WWII USMC Col. Robert Rankin in the early seventies. Col. Rankin acquired them in his research for various aviation articles from the thirties through the fifties.
