The aircraft was a final development of a series: PWS-12, PWS-14 and PWS-16, designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement for an advanced trainer.

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.

[2] The PWS-26 was used in Polish military aviation from early 1937, becoming a standard type of advanced trainer for fighter pilots.

According to a report by Jan Falkowski, on September 3, 1939, while flying a PWS-26, he made a chasing Bf 109 crash near Lublin, 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, were the last Polish aircraft in the sky during the campaign.

I brought him to about 50 feet off the ground and in the last second, dived again, then immediately pulled into a left turn.

(account of Jan Falkowski causing the Bf 109 to crash, taken from his auto biography "With The Wind In My Face").

The aircraft was found in Poland after the war and used until 1953 by civilian operators with the markings SP-AJB.

[5] Data from [citation needed]General characteristics Performance Armament 1 x 7.92 mm machinegun, 2 x 12 kg bombs (optional)