Fieseler Fi 156 Storch

Although the Fieseler Storch is not a fast or visually appealing fighter, this aircraft type became one of the most recognizable military aircraft of the pre-1945 era. Even those not particularly versed in type designation usually immediately identify this aircraft type as the "Storch." This says a lot about the aircraft's popularity.

In the fall of 1935, the new Air Force requested a liaison aircraft to facilitate personnel transport and communication between the advancing armored units and the rear command staffs. The aircraft was to have very short takeoff and landing distances and a minimum speed of less than 50 kilometers per hour. For possible reconnaissance missions, a high-wing aircraft with the best possible downward visibility was required.

Tender
The "Special Aircraft" department of the Technical Office of the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) developed the tender specifications and submitted them to the aircraft manufacturers Fieseler, Klemm, and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in September 1935. In addition, development contracts were awarded to Focke-Wulf and Flettner for three autogyros. The objective was to investigate whether a rotary-wing aircraft might be better suited for this task. Almost simultaneously, the RLM launched the "Liaison Aircraft" development program. Contracts for this program were awarded to BFW, Fieseler, and Klemm/Siebel.

As early as December 1935, the RLM members were able to inspect a mock-up of the Fieseler Fi 156 at Fieseler. However, since basic tender specifications – poor downward visibility and a lack of photo opportunities – were not met, the proposed design was rejected. After the design was modified, particularly in the cabin area, the improved mock-up was presented to the RLM commission again in January 1936. Since the prototypes now met the client's requirements, construction of the prototype aircraft began. Dr. Winter oversaw this production. Gerhard Fieseler, the head of the project and development department, Reinhold Mewes, and his assistant Viktor Maugsch were responsible for the main design of the Fi 156.

In 1967, a German court even had to consider the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch under the motto: "Who is actually the intellectual creator of the Fieseler Storch?" Third parties had declared Dr. Winter the intellectual father of the Storch. Fieseler, however, would not accept this, and a legal dispute ensued. Dr. Winter later became even more well-known for his slow-flying aircraft designs, the LF-1 Zaunkönig and LF-2 Kiebitz.

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch Plane Plans

For the first time
The maiden flight of the Fieseler Fi 156 V-1, registered D-IBXY, took place on May 10, 1936. Whether Gerhard Fieseler himself was at the controls is unfortunately not entirely clear. The fuselage of the strutted, three-seat high-wing monoplane was constructed of fabric-covered steel tube construction, while the wings were of conventional wooden construction, also with fabric covering. The V-1 and V-2 models differed in several respects from the later production aircraft. The characteristic high-legged landing gear was not yet present. Instead, Dr. Winter had implemented a landing gear that was 20 kilograms lighter.

The wings were dihedralded at 2.5 degrees per side. This was later reduced to 0.5 degrees. The engine was the air-cooled eight-cylinder Argus AS 10C with an output of 240 hp. Shortly thereafter, the V-2 with the registration D-IGLI and the V-3 with the registration D-IGQE (later GM+AI) were also flying.

After extensive test flights at the Luftwaffe test site in Rechlin, the underpowered landing gear with its continuous axle had to be replaced. The landing gear now featured the characteristic stork legs, with a spring travel of almost half a meter. The effectiveness of all control surfaces was criticized, and it was necessary to increase them. The vertical stabilizer was thus significantly larger and received a large control horn balancer on the rudder. To improve the effectiveness of the elevator, fixed auxiliary vanes/leading edge vanes were mounted on the underside of the rudder. The leading edge vane below the elevator pivot remained in place on almost all Fi 156 versions, only omitted from the C-7 version and later licensed builds. The aileron chord was also increased, resulting in the distinctive kink on the trailing edge of the wing.

Widely Varied
Extensive trials were conducted with fixed slats on the wings. For testing purposes, parts of the slats were mounted on hinges for improved high-speed flight characteristics. However, it turned out that the fixed slats performed better in stalled flight, and this seemed more important than the slightly lower drag in high-speed flight. On the Fi 156 V-2 and the small A-0 series, the fixed slats were shortened to about 70 percent of the wingspan; otherwise, all built aircraft were equipped with the longer slats.

The ten aircraft of the A-0 series were manufactured starting in 1937. This version is easily distinguishable from the later ones. This is not only due to the shorter slats, but also due to the oil cooler located at the very front under the engine cowling and the individually routed exhaust outlets. After a small series of B-0 aircraft, the first large-scale production model, the Fieseler Fi 156 C-1, followed.

However, there are said to have been no prototypes of the A-1, B-1, or even C-0 series. A civilian Storch touring aircraft with movable leading edge slats based on the Handley-Page-Lachmann system was certainly planned at Fieseler, but never realized. And at least until 1945, all Storches were used exclusively for military purposes. This was despite, of course, the attempt to create the impression that this was a civilian aircraft at various air shows up until the beginning of World War II—even in the USA at the 1938 National Air Races/Ohio, see the drawing of D-IRPJ.

Thanks to its exceptional flight characteristics, every Fieseler Fi 156 Storch demonstration was a crowd-puller. The first major performance in front of a large audience took place at the fourth International Air Show in Switzerland from July 23 to August 1, 1937. Two brand-new Fi 156 A-0s in light gray prototype livery, with the registrations D-IDVS and D-IJFN, were flown from the Fieseler headquarters in Kassel-Bettenhausen to the air show in Dübendorf.

Legendary
Gerhard Fieseler later described it this way in his book "My Path in the Sky": "In June 1937, the Storch was the attraction. Colonel Udet at the controls elicited storms of laughter: He took off close to the audience, climbed to about ten meters, and landed. He did this three times in a row along the 200-meter-long stands, and these three leaps into the air were truly hilarious. For the next day, the organizers wanted a comparison flight between a La Cierva rotary wing and the Storch. In order to be able to take off and land quickly, the Spanish La Cierva had replaced the fixed airplane wings with a four-blade rotary wing around 1930. This design is not to be confused with a helicopter, the development of which would take many years.

The comparison flight once again triggered raucous laughter: Both aircraft lined up side by side at the start with their propellers running, La Cierva also with its rotary wing running. A Swiss officer lowered the Starting flag. The Storch took off, pulled at full throttle to a height of about 60 meters, turned, and landed behind La Cierva, which was still rolling on the ground.

The Fi 156's exceptional and legendary slow-flight characteristics were achieved through its low wing loading combined with its highly effective lift aids and fixed leading edge slats. The ailerons, along with the large split landing flaps, could also be lowered slightly, allowing the wing profile camber to be increased across the entire wingspan. In headwinds, a distance of 50 meters was sufficient for the Storch to take off, and aided by its minimal landing speed of 48 to 50 kilometers per hour, a rollout of just 20 meters after landing was sufficient.

All-round visibility
Following the unarmed Fi 156 C-1 version, the C-2 version, armed with an MG15, followed in 1939. However, the rear-mounted machine gun on a lens mount in the rear – now raised – canopy eliminated the need for a jump seat. The enlarged rear cabin glazing was later retained in unarmed versions, as well; only with the last Storch version of the C-7 was flat glazing reintroduced, as in the C-1.

The C-3 version (from 1941) was powered by a 270 hp Argus AS-10P or AS-10R. With additional equipment for tropical operations, this version was called the Fi 156 C-3 tropic. The Fi 156 C-7, delivered from 1944 onwards, had an identical engine, no armament, and the leading edge slat under the elevator was now omitted.

The Fi 156 D version was equipped with a modified rear fuselage design, allowing up to two stretchers to be carried for the transport of wounded. Access was provided via a fuselage hatch opening upwards on each side. Visually, this Storch version can also be distinguished from the other models by the additional triangular side windows.

At least until the fall of 1943, the Storch was mass-produced directly at Fieseler's main factory in Kassel. After approximately 2,000 units had been manufactured, production there was discontinued, as Fieseler's production capacity was needed, among other things, for the licensed production of the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Mass production then continued in occupied France at Morane Saulnier. Production was planned to continue until March 1946, but ended in the summer of 1944 when Allied forces landed in France. Production was therefore relocated to occupied Czechoslovakia (Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) to the companies LBB (Leichtbau Budweis) in Budweis and Mraz in Chocen.

It continued
After the end of the war, the Storch continued to be built in Czechoslovakia under the designation K-65 "Cáp" until 1949 in a small series production run of approximately 150 units. Morane Saulnier in France also had a post-war Fieseler Fi 156 production run. By the end of 1945, 350 units had already been delivered. These were the Morane Saulnier MS 500 "Criquet" with an Argus engine, the MS 501 with a Renault engine, the MS 502 with a Salmson nine-cylinder radial engine, and the MS 505 with a seven-cylinder Jacobs radial engine.

During service in Indochina from November 1946, the wooden wings became vulnerable in the humid climate. Therefore, the wings were subsequently constructed of metal. After approximately 1,000 units were produced for the French armed forces, series production of the Storch finally ended in the early 1960s. Today, a few aircraft of this truly exceptional design are still flying. This was naturally aided by post-war production in France and Czechoslovakia. Approximately 90 examples have survived worldwide, two-thirds of which are French-made.

The color three-view photos show, on the one hand, the wonderfully restored D-EVDB owned by Dirk Bende from the Rhineland. His Fieseler Fi 156 corresponds to the C-7 version and is probably one of the most authentically restored examples still flying. On the other hand, the sand-colored G-STCH with the tactical registration GM+AI is based in England but can also be seen at German air shows.

Revived
The drawings also include a color side view of D-EAML, among others. This is an MS 500 from 1947, but still with a German type plate. After a long service in Freiburg and at least three paint schemes, this Storch ended up at the Fighter Factory in the USA and, after another restoration, was able to fly again in 2012.

Airshow attendees in Germany are sure to be familiar with the white D-EMAV with the red medical cross. Before being converted into a Fi 156 D version, it was registered in Switzerland as HB-IKA. Even under this registration, it served as an advertising vehicle for a chocolate brand, with promotional flights taking place over Germany until 1956. The KF+XL from the American Fantasy of Flight Museum served as the model for Pichler's Fieseler Storch model replica. This aircraft is also a French post-war model.

Many thanks go to the following people, without whom this documentation would not have been possible in this form: Paul Appleyard, Cliff B., Dirk Bende, Rolf Blattner, Ralf Bosch, Matthias Dorst, Prof. Dr. Freund, Fantasy of Flight Museum, Gary Gray, Tony Hisgett, Dipl.-Ing. Karl Kössler, Nicolas Nau, Dave Stubbington, Alan Wilson and Michael Ziem.