FIESELER Fi 156 STORCH "STORK" - STOL LIAISON AIRCRAFT - ZENOAH ENGINE - LMA SLEAP AIRFIELD - 2023

ITS A BRAVE MAN THAT FLIES A LIGHT WEIGHT "STOL" MODEL IN A GUSTING 25+ MPH WIND BUT THIS GUY HAS BALLS OF F"^*^*"G STEEL !!!!!!!!

Role - Reconnaissance & communications
National origin - Nazi Germany
Manufacturer - Fieseler Morane-Saulnier
First flight - 24 May 1936
Introduction - 1937
Retired Germany - 1945
France -1 970
Primary users - Luftwaffe
French Army
French Air Force
Produced - 1937–1949
(-1965 as the MS 500)
Number built - Over 2,900

The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch ("stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short field (STOL) performance and low stalling speed of 50 km/h (31 mph).

French-built later variants often appear at air shows. Compared to most other liaison aircraft of the period, the Storch was quite large and heavy, with its wingspan exceeding 14 meters (nearly 47 feet) and its weight slightly over 1,300 kg (2,900 pounds) when fully loaded. It was significantly heavier, slower, and less agile than Allied liaison aircraft such as the American Piper L-4 or Stinson L-5, or the British Auster.

During World War II

The Storch involved in Mussolini's rescue in the Gran Sasso raid.
The Storch was deployed in all European and North African theaters of World War II. In addition to its liaison function, a number were used to fly a battalion of Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland behind enemy lines during the invasion of Belgium.

Field Marshal Rommel used Storch aircraft for transport and battlefield surveillance during the North African desert campaign of World War II.

In 1943, the Storch played a role in Operation Eiche, the rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain-top near the Gran Sasso. Even though the mountain was surrounded by Italian troops, German commando Otto Skorzeny and 90 paratroopers used gliders to land on the peak and quickly captured it.

However, the problem of how to get back off remained. A Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter was sent, but it broke down en route. Instead, pilot Heinrich Gerlach flew in a Storch. It landed in 30 m (100 ft), and after Mussolini and Skorzeny boarded, it took off in 80 m (250 ft), even though the aircraft was overloaded. The Storch involved in rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or Stammkennzeichen, of "SJ + LL" in the motion picture coverage of the daring rescue.

On 26 April 1945, a Storch was one of the last aircraft to land on the improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate during the Battle of Berlin and the death throes of Nazi Germany. It was flown by the test pilot Hanna Reitsch, who flew Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to answer a summons from Hitler.

Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst and his Storch, Italy, 1943
A Storch was the last aircraft shot down by the Allies on the Western Front and another was downed by a direct Allied counterpart of the Storch, an L-4 Grasshopper, the military version of the well-known American Piper J-3 Cub civilian training and sport aircraft. The pilot and co-pilot of the L-4, lieutenants Duane Francis and Bill Martin, opened fire on the Storch with their .45 caliber pistols, forcing the German air crew to land and surrender.

During the war a number of Störche were captured by the Allies. One became the personal aircraft of Field Marshal Montgomery. Others were used as the personal aircraft of Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham and Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst, who acquired his Storch in North Africa, and flew it subsequently in Italy and North-West Europe.

The British captured 145, of which 64 were given to the French as war compensation from Germany.

FILMED AT AN LMA ORGANISED RC MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOW AT SLEAP AIRFIELD,
HARMER HILL, SHREWSBURY, SY4 3HE ON 29-7-2023,