Are you looking on the screen that lists the folders, like Inbox, Drafts, Sent Mail, etc? If there is not an email that is waiting/trying to be sent, the Outbox does not show up. But if there is an email that can't be sent or is in process of being sent, the Outbox shows up. (I just put my iPhone on Airplane mode with wifi off, to test it out, creating an email and clicking on send)