At the beginning of 1932, the Italian company SA Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridurali (IMAM) manufactured the Ro.26 biplane, a basic trainer aircraft based on a design by aeronautical engineer Giovanni Galasso.^[1] It was powered by a seven-cylinder, 215-horsepower (160 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial engine, built under licence by Alfa Romeo as the Lince.^[1] IMAM intended to market the new aircraft for basic pilot training and use in aerobatic competitions.^[1] The Ro.26′s design also allowed it to serve as a trainer for seaplane pilots by converting into a floatplane as the Ro.26I — or Ro.26 Idro ("Hydro") — with the landing gear replaced by floats. The prototype, registered as I-ABIL, flew for the first time in 1932.^[1]

The Ro.26 was a biplane trainer aircraft with equal-span wings with a slight upward cant.^[2] The wings and tail section were of all-wooden construction and covered with canvas. The fuselage was of all-metal construction, built with autogenously welded steel tubes.^[2]

The aircraft had fixed, wide-track rear tricycle landing gear with oil-elastic shock absorbers. A pair of floats could replace the landing gear in order to transform the aircraft into a floatplane.^[2] The open cockpits were arranged in tandem, with the instructor placed in the first cockpit, accessible from a door positioned on the right side of the fuselage. The pilot in the forward cockpit could engage and disengage the flight controls in flight at will.^[2]

The Alfa Romeo Lynx seven-cylinder, air-cooled engine was rated at 215 horsepower (160 kW) and drove a helical wooden two-bladed propeller that was 2.180 m (7 ft 1.8 in) in diameter.^[2]

At the beginning of 1934 the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) tested the Ro.26 prototype I-ABIL.^[1] Although the aircraft displayed good flight characteristics, the military authorities decided not to buy it.^[1] IMAM abandoned plans for series production and built no additional examples.^[1]

Ro.26

Biplane basic trainer, powered by a 215 hp (160 kW) Alfa Romeo Lynx 7-cylinder radial engine.

Ro.26I

The floatplane version had a maximum speed of 205 kilometres per hour (127 mph) and a stall speed of 82 kilometres per hour (51 mph), and could climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 3 minutes 20 seconds, to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 7 minutes, to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 13 minutes, to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) in 21 minutes 30 seconds, and to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 34 minutes.^[3] "I" stood for Idrovolanti ("seaplane").

  Kingdom of Italy

• IMAM

Data from Jotti da Badia Polesine^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 6.648 m (21 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 8.890 m (29 ft 2 in)
• Height: 2.685 m (8 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 21.80 m² (234.7 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 750 kg (1,653 lb)
• Gross weight: 900 kg (1,984 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Alfa Romeo Lynx 7-cylinder air-cooled engine, 160 kW (215 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed helical wooden propeller, 2.180 m (7 ft 2 in) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 212 km/h (132 mph, 114 kn)
• Cruise speed: 186 km/h (116 mph, 100 kn)
• Stall speed: 78 km/h (48 mph, 42 kn) at 500 m (1,600 ft)
• Range: 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)
• Endurance: 5 hours 30 minutes
• Rate of climb: 7.4 m/s (1,460 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 43.5 kg/m² (8.9 lb/sq ft)

Notes edit

Bibliography edit

• Jotti da Badia Polesine (1934). Annuario dell'Aeronautica Italiana (in Italian). Milan: Libreria Aeronautica.
• Luigi Mancini, ed. (1936). Grande Enciclopedia Aeronautica (in Italian). Milan: Edizioni Aeronautica.
• "I.M.A.M. Ro.26" (in Russian). airwar.ru. Retrieved 6 August 2019.

• Photo: Side view of Ro-26 I-ABIL at airwar.ru
• Photo: Front view of Ro-26 I-ABIL at airwar.ru
• Photo: Side view of Ro.26 I-ABIL equipped with floats in Ro-26I configuration at airwar.ru