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The PWS-26 was a Polish advanced
training aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...
, used from 1937 to
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
by the Polish Air Force, constructed in the
PWS PWS may refer to: * Pressure wave supercharger, a type of super-charger technology *Performance work statement, term used to summarize the work that needs to be done for a contract * Personal weather station, a weather station owned and operated by ...
(''Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów'' - Podlasie Aircraft Factory). It was the second most numerous Polish pre-war aircraft, after the
RWD-8 The RWD 8 was a Polish parasol wing monoplane trainer aircraft produced by RWD. It was used from 1934 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation. Development The RWD 8 was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement in 19 ...
.


Design and development

The aircraft was a final development of a series:
PWS-12 The PWS-12 was a biplane trainer designed and developed by Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS). It entered production as the PWS-14. Development The PWS-12 was a single-engined two-seat training biplane, fit also for aerobatics, designed in 19 ...
,
PWS-14 The PWS-12 was a biplane trainer designed and developed by Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS). It entered production as the PWS-14. Development The PWS-12 was a single-engined two-seat training biplane, fit also for aerobatics, designed in 19 ...
and
PWS-16 The PWS-16 was a biplane trainer designed and developed by Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS). An armed variant also entered production as the PWS-26. Development Developed from the PWS-12 and PWS-14 trainers, the PWS-16 two-seat biplane de ...
, designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement for an advanced trainer. The chief designer was Augustyn Zdaniewski. The PWS-26 was a direct development of the PWS-16bis, sharing the same silhouette, being a more militarized variant - with strengthened construction, which allowed dive-bomber training. Contrary to its predecessors, the PWS-26 could be armed with a forward-shooting machine gun and practice bombs. It also had other improvements and was capable of
aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
. A visual difference from the PWS-16bis were the canvas-covered struts of the
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
. The prototype was flown in
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...
. After trials, its production started in
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
. By the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
, 310 had been built. The PWS-26 was used in Polish military aviation from early 1937, becoming a standard type of advanced trainer for
fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...
s. It replaced most of the older PWS-14s, PWS-16s,
PWS-18 The PWS-18 was a Polish trainer aircraft, used from 1937 in aviation, 1937 to 1939 in aviation, 1939 by the Polish Air Force, a modified licence variant of the British Avro Tutor. Development In 1934, the Polish government, looking for an interm ...
s (a licence-built
Avro Tutor The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer (aircraft), trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design ...
) and
Bartel BM-5 The Bartel BM 5, initially known as M.5 was a Polish biplane advanced trainer used from 1930 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force, manufactured in the Samolot factory in Poznań. Design and development The aircraft was designed by Ryszard Bartel i ...
d's. They carried numbers starting with "81-". The PWS-26 was regarded as a successful aircraft, with good flight characteristics. During its Polish service, there were 10 fatal crashes, which was not a high number.


Operational history

After the German
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, some PWS-26s were used in
liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...
flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...
, three aircraft in each, assigned to Armies (basic equipment of liaison flights was the
RWD-8 The RWD 8 was a Polish parasol wing monoplane trainer aircraft produced by RWD. It was used from 1934 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation. Development The RWD 8 was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement in 19 ...
). They were also used in improvised liaison units. At least 45 were used in combat units during the campaign in total. The PWS-26 was mostly used as a replacement aircraft. According to a report by
Jan Falkowski Jan Paweł Falkowski (26 June 191227 July 2001) was a Polish fighter ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II with 9 confirmed kills. Biography Falkowski was born in Pohulanka near Vilnius in 1912. In 1934 he entered to Polish Air Force Acade ...
, on September 3, 1939, while flying a PWS-26, he made a chasing
Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
crash near
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
, by performing low-level manoeuvres, but there was no confirmation from the Germans. A single PWS-26 and two RWD-8s of the
Independent Operational Group Polesie Independent Operational Group Polesie (''Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie'', SGO Polesie) was one of the Polish Army Corps (Operational Groups) that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 11 September 1939 and ...
, were the last Polish aircraft in the sky during the campaign. They were grounded by General
Franciszek Kleeberg Franciszek Kleeberg (1 February 1888, in Tarnopol – 5 April 1941, near Dresden) was a Polish general. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army before joining the Polish Legions in World War I and later the Polish Army. During the German Invasion ...
on October 2, 1939. Some Czech pilots flew these aircraft during the campaign on the Polish side. Account of Jan Falkowski of the above kill. "I was only 200 feet from the ground when I tried a trick. I put my plane into a dive, all the time watching one of the Germans who was trying to get on my tail. I did little twists and turns, not allowing the enemy to get me squarely in his sights. All the time we were getting closer and closer to the ground. I brought him to about 50 feet off the ground and in the last second, dived again, then immediately pulled into a left turn. I missed the ground by a scat 10 feet, I figured. The German wasn't so lucky." (account of Jan Falkowski causing the Bf 109 to crash, taken from his auto biography "With The Wind In My Face"). According however to
Marius Emmerling Marius may refer to: People *Gaius Marius (157 BC-86 BC), Roman statesman, seven times consul. Arts and entertainment * ''Marius'' (play), a 1929 play by Marcel Pagnol * "Marius" (short story), a 1957 story by Poul Anderson * ''Marius'' (193 ...
, this victory can not be attributed to particular German losses. Some PWS-26s were shot down by the Germans, at least one was shot down by the Soviets on September 19. A large number of PWS-26s were destroyed on the ground by the Germans or burned by the withdrawing Poles. At least two were evacuated to
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and 20 or so
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
. This latter group were captured by the Germans - in 1941. After repairing, 50 or so were sold to Romania, and in 1943 Romanian Air Force had 56 of them. In 1944 some of them, fitted with bomblets, were used for night attacks. Some were used in civilian aviation, and were used in Romania until the 1950s. Two were tested in Germany. A dozen or so were captured by the Soviets in Poland and also used by them for testing.


Operators

; *
Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...
; *
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
operated unknown number of captured aircraft ; * Polish Air Force ; *
Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR), or the Romanian Royal Aeronautics, though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply ...
; *
Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
captured and used unknown number of aircraft in September 1939 and seized more in 1940 after invasion on
Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
.


Surviving aircraft

Only one PWS-26 (Nr. 81-123) has survived. Captured by the Germans in September 1939, it was part of the German aviation museum, displayed with the Luftwaffe markings VG+AS. The aircraft was found in Poland after the war and used until 1953 by civilian operators with the markings SP-AJB. It is currently preserved in the
Polish Aviation Museum The Polish Aviation Museum ( pl, Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego w Krakowie) is a large museum of historic aircraft and aircraft engines in Kraków, Poland. It is located at the site of the no-longer functional Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Ai ...
in Kraków.


Specifications(PWS-26)


See also


References


Notes

*Andrzej Glass: "Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939" (''Polish aviation construction 1893-1939''), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977 (Polish language, no ISBN) * {{PWS aircraft 1930s Polish military trainer aircraft PWS aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1935