Boeing introduced the first monoplane bomber, the Y1B-9, which could outfly most of the fighter aircraft of the era. Boeing answered the need for a high performance fighter with the P-26 Peashooter. Armed with a pair of .30 caliber machine guns, the P-26 had a speed of 235 mph, thirty-five mph faster than contemporary fighters. Boeing began to build large aircraft in 1933 with the introduction of the Model 247 airliner. The 247 was a monoplane with fully retractable landing gear, de-icers on the wings and supercharged engines. The Model 247 led directly to the XB-15 and the B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-17 was the first four engined bomber with supercharged engines and the first to carry its entire bomb load internally. The B-17 made Boeing an industry giant and in June of 1944. the Boeing plant at Seattle was turning out sixteen B-17Gs a day. Additionally, both Douglas and Lockheed license built the bomber and a total of 12,731 B-17s were built.
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