Thomas-Morse MB-3

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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

Ordered by the U.S. Army on the basis of a promised 150 mph (241 km/h) top speed and a 1,500 ft.min (7.62 m/s) initial climb, the MB-3 designed by B. Douglas Thomas was a single-seat unstaggered single-bay biplane of wooden construction and fabric covering.

Developed in 1919 by the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation of Ithaca, New York, the MB-3 fighter was based on the French Spad-7, with rights on the design held by the Air Service.

Thomas-Morse produced fifty MB-3's for the Air Service and ten for the U.S. Marine Corps but were underbid by Boeing for contracts to deliver 200 additional planes, which Boeing designated the MB-3A.

Boeing's mass production methods allowed it to profit while still charging a lower price (in the case of the MB-3A, $7,240 per copy), but was the beginning of the decline of Thomas-Morse.

Boeing credits this contract with rescuing the company from financial difficulties following the cancellation of orders after World War I, and with being the impetus for its rise as a premier manufacturer of military aircraft.


Army pilot Frank B. Tyndall pulled the wings off an MB-3A flown from a short runway near the Boeing factory and parachuted to safety after a spectacular low-level bail-out.

Boeing made minor structural refinements and created completely new tail surfaces for the last 50 aircraft delivered.

The MB-3A was delivered to the Air Service beginning in 1922 and was its primary pursuit aircraft.

By 1925 the MB-3A was considered obsolete, and with the re-organization of the Air Service into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1926, it was replaced by the Curtiss PW-8 and Boeing PW-9 fighters.

Variants


MB-3

54 built by Thomas-Morse

MB-3A

200 built by Boeing with a revised cooling system