Avia BH-26

BH-26
Role	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Avia
Designer	Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn
First flight	1927
Number built	ca. 8

The Avia BH-26 was a two-seat armed reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in 1927. It was a single-bay unstaggered biplane with equal-span wings and a fixed tail-skid undercarriage. Both upper and lower wings featured long-span ailerons, which were dynamically balanced by a small auxiliary airfoil mounted to the upper surface of the lower ailerons. Its design was typical of this type of aircraft built during World War I and the years following; pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits with the observer armed with a machine gun on a ring mount. As with many other Avia designs, the BH-26 originally had no fixed fin; only a rudder, but this was changed in service.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: two, pilot and observer
• Length: 8.85 m (29 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 10.80 m (35 ft 5 in)
• Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 31.0 m² (333 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,030 kg (2,270 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,630 kg (3,590 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Walter-built Bristol Jupiter IV radial, 336 kW (450 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 242 km/h (150 mph)
• Range: 530 km (330 miles)
• Service ceiling: 8,500 m (27,900 ft)
• Rate of climb: 6.3 m/s (1,230 ft/min)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) Vickers machine guns
• 2 × 7.7 mm (.303 in) Lewis guns in Skoda-built ring mount for observer

See also

Related development

BH-28

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avia BH-26.

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 86. 
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 889 Sheet 86. 
• Němeček, V. (1968). Československá letadla. Praha: Naše Vojsko.