Potez 26

The Potez 26 was a single seat fighter aircraft designed and flown in France in the mid-1920s. It did not reach production.

Design and development
The Potez 26 was a lighter, smaller span, single-seat fighter version of the two-seat biplane Potez 25 reconnaissance aircraft. Both types were sesquiplanes with markedly smaller lower wings. Both upper and lower wings were rectangular in plan, with long-span ailerons only on the upper plane. They were single bay biplanes, their wing interconnected by N-form interplane struts assisted by wire bracing. These interplane struts leaned outwards and narrowed to meet the closer spars of the smaller-chord lower wing. Centrally, the upper wing was held over the upper fuselage by two pairs of struts, a parallel pair forward and an inverted V at the rear forming a cabane. There was a semicircular cut-out in the upper trailing edge to improve the pilot's forward view.

The Potez 26 was powered by either a 450 hp Hispano-Suiza 12J V-12, or the 450 hp Lorraine 12Ed W-12, both cooled by a radiator under the rear of the engine cowling. The engine mounting enabled a rapid exchange of engines; the Lorraine W engine installation reduced the overall aircraft length by 350 mm. The mounting formed part of the forward fuselage structure, which had a plywood skinned central section containing the open cockpit, raised above the structural fuselage, with decking falling away ahead and behind and a wooden framed, fabric covered rear. At the rear, the tailplane was mounted on the upper fuselage structure and externally braced to it from below with pairs of inverted V struts. Its fin was small and round edged, carrying a broad, deep rudder which reached down to the keel.

The Potez 26 had a fixed tail wheel undercarriage with mainwheels on a split axle supported centrally by a V-strut, hinged on another pair of struts to the lower fuselage and with vertical, airfoil section shock absorbers. There was a sprung tailskid.

The Potez 26 made its first flight in August 1924 and was on display at the 1924 Paris Salon. Only one was built.