Avia BH-26

Flown for the first time in 1927, the BH-26 represented Avia's first attempt to produce a two-seat fighter. Employing a basically similar wooden structure to that of earlier Avia fighter biplanes, and retaining the unequal- span single-bay configuration, the BH-26 was powered by a Walter-built Jupiter IV nine-cylinder radial with an international rating of 450hp. Armament comprised two synchronised 7.7mm Vickers guns firing through the propeller and twin Lewis guns on a Skoda flexible mounting in the rear cockpit. Whereas the prototype had no fixed vertical tail fin, this feature was introduced on the production model which entered service with the Czechoslovak air arm as the B-26.