Fi 156 Storch file photo [4166]

Fi 156 Storch

CountryGermany
ManufacturerGerhard Fieseler Werke
Primary RoleOther
Maiden Flight1 March 1936

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe Fi 156 Storch ("Stork") aircraft were the result of a request from the German Luftwaffe in 1935 for liaison aircraft. They were designed to be versatile; they did not need a long runway to take off and land, and their foldable wings allowed ease of transportation inside trailers or even towed by vehicles. After the first prototype flight in the spring of 1936, the design was immediately ordered into production with a contract for 16 aircraft. The first Fi 156 Storch aircraft entered service in mid-1937. During WW2, they were found in all major theaters with German presence. In Sep 1943, after General Kurt Student's daring commando rescue of Benito Mussolini from the Campo Imperatore Hotel at Gran Sasso, Lieutenant Otto Skorzeny and Benito Mussolini were extricated via a Fi 156 Storch aircraft that landed on a short 50-meter clearing. In 26 Apr 1945, during the last days of the Berlin siege, the Fi 156 Storch aircraft piloted by Hanna Reitsch was the last to land on the improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate, taking her lover Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim into Berlin for a meeting with Hitler. At least 60 Fi 156 Storch aircraft were captured by the Allies; one of them was assigned to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as his personal transport. Between 1937 and 1945, over 2,900 Fi 156 Storch aircraft were built, most of the C variant. Some of them were built at Mr·z factory in Czechoslovakia and Morane-Saulnier factory in France, both of which continued to build them after the war for civilian use, with design designation of K-65 C·p (also "Stork") and MS.500 Criquet ("Locust"), respectively.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Jul 2007

SPECIFICATIONS

Fi 156C
MachineryOne Argus As 10 air-cooled inverted V8 engine rated at 240hp
Armament1x7.92mm rear MG 15 machine gun
Crew2
Span14.30 m
Length9.90 m
Height3.10 m
Wing Area26.00 m²
Weight, Empty860 kg
Weight, Loaded1,260 kg
Speed, Maximum175 km/h
Rate of Climb4.80 m/s
Service Ceiling5,200 m
Range, Normal380 km

Photographs

Fi 156 Storch aircraft in flight, circa late 1930sGerman Fi 156 Storch aircraft preparing to take off from a country road, Ukraine, summer 1941Storch aircraft at Dzerzhinsky Square (now Freedom Square), Kharkov, Ukraine, Nov 1941German airborne troops near a Fi 156 Storch aircraft, Gran Sasso, Italy, 12 Sep 1943
See all 5 photographs of Fi 156 Storch



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Fi 156 Storch Photo Gallery
Fi 156 Storch aircraft in flight, circa late 1930s
See all 5 photographs of Fi 156 Storch


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