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In the summer of 1935, Fiesler Chairman Gerhard Fieseler, Chief Designer Reinhold Mewes and Technical Director Erich Bachem designed a practical STOL aircraft, the Fieseler Fi 156. It was seen as fulfilling numerous roles both in civil life and for the recently resurgent Luftwaffe. The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) was a STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft, a three-seatextensively glazed cabin, high-winged machine with the wing liberally endowed with slats and flaps and a stalky landing gear arrangement, well suited to cushioning arrivals at unprecedentedly steep angles. The high-lift devices allowed a take­off run of only about 60 m (200 ft) and it could land in about one-third of that distance. Fieseler's chief designer, Reinhold Mewes, decided for ease of maintenance that the airplane should be completely conventional in its construction, and so utilized a steel tubing and fabric fuselage with wooden wingswith a conventional braced tail unit and fixed tailskid landing gear. The wings were made of wood simply because they could be made in low grade factories using forced labour. The original wooden wings contained only 2 x 74 lt tanks.The engine was the then-common Argus As 10C inverted V-8 aircooled 240-hp model.

 

The big 46-foot wing had full-length fixed slats (projected movable slats never materialized), Fowler-type flaps that increased wing area by 18 percent, and ailerons that drooped with the flaps when they were extended past 20 degrees. The wings could be folded back along the fuselage, allowing it to be carried on a trailer or even towed slowly behind a vehicle. The long legs of the landing gear contained oil and spring shock absorbers that compressed about 450 mm (18 inches) on landing, allowing the plane to set down almost anywhere. In flight they hung down, giving the aircraft the appearance of a very long-legged, big-winged bird, hence its nickname, Storch. With its very low landing speed the Storch often landed "in place" or sometimes even backwards, if the wind was blowing strongly from directly ahead.

The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (stork) V1 prototype was first flown during the early months of 1936. The Argus As 10C V8 engine gave the plane a top speed of only 175 km/h (109 mph), enabling the Storch to fly as slow as 50 km/h (32 mph), take off into a light wind in less than 45 m (150 ft), and land in 18 m (60 ft). In response to the prototype, in 1937 the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Reich Aviation Ministry) put out a tender for a new Luftwaffe aircraft suitable for liaison, army co-operation - today called Forward Air Control - and medical evacuation to several companies.

 

V2 Prototype at the IV Internationales Flugmeeting, Zurich, 1937

Designs from from Messerschmitt (the Bf 163) and Siebel (the Si 201) and an auto gyro from Focke-Wulf (the Fw 186) based on Cierva technology were submitted, but the Fieseler entry was by far and away the most advanced in terms of STOL performance, needing a take-off run of only about 200 ft (60 m) and landing in about one-third of that distance. The first Fi 156 prototype was followed up by the second V2 prototype and then the third V3 prototype, the ski-equipped V4, plus one V5 and ten Fi 156A-0 pre-production aircraft. Flight testing of the first three prototypes (Fi 156 V1, V2 and V3) showed that the capability of this aircraft more than exceeded its STOL expectations, with little more than a light breeze blowing it could take off inonly a few feet. One of these prototypes was demonstrated publicly for the first time at an international flying meeting at the end of July 1937 in Zürich, by which time the general-purpose Fi 156A-1 was in production. The Storch repeatedly demonstrated full-load take-offs after a ground run of never more than 148 ft (45 m), and a fully controllable speed range of 32-108 mph (51-174 km/h). Service tests confirmed that Ger­many’s armed forces had acquired a ‘go-anywhere aircraft, and for the re­mainder of World War II the Storch was found virtually everywhere Ger­man forces operated.

 

Tests against fighters appeared to confirm that, at around 34 mph (55 km/h), it was a very difficult target for fighters. There was almost trouble when Udet's camera-gun film showed not one picture of the elusive Storch. Another Fi 156A-0 was tested with three SC-50 (50 kg/110 lbs) bombs, with aim marks painted on the Plexiglas windows, while another did successful trials against a U-boat with inert 298 lbs (135 kg) depth charges. Less unexpected were supply-dropping tests and trials with smoke apparatus.

Between 1940 and 1943, Germany exported 34 Fieseler Fi 156Cs to Romania. A further Storch was assigned for Marshall Ion Antonescu's personal use. Further Fi 156s were received in 1944 and some were probably captured after August 23, 1944, from the retreating German forces. In the so‑called 'People's Democracy' the remaining dozens of Storchs received civilian registrations and were relegated to AVIASAN, the Romanian national air ambulance service. The last ones were finally retired in the late 1960s.

 

The Ilmavoimat / Maavoimat / VL Team evaluated the aircraft and carried out a series of flight tests early in 1938. As expected, the Fi 156 rated highly, with the STOL performance in particular impressing the the test team. Excerpts from the Flight Test reports written at the time reveal some of the impressions that aircraft made on the Test Pilots:

“…..nothing could possibly convey its general ungainliness. It stands so high off the ground that an average man can barely see in the side windows…”

“…..once in the cockpit, the nose didn't even begin to block my vision because I was sitting so high above it. The cockpit area is huge, big enough to stand up in, and it's cluttered with cranks, wheels and levers, all labeled in German. The stick and rudder are where they should be, but the rudders are big cast-aluminum footprints with safety straps of their own and the stick resembles a telephone pole. The flaps are lowered by a crank, not a dainty little crank, but a man-sized Model "T" Ford type crank that sticks out of the left wall. By winding in the Aus direction, wing-size boards flop out of the trailing edges and the ailerons race to catch up. In the spar carry-through structure over the pilot's head is a pointer that indicates how much flap is hanging out, and in this airplane, any flap at all is a lot……”

“….. I must have made at least 15 takeoffs and landings, all of them incredibly short and none of them where I wanted them to be. On takeoff, I found that even with the correct trim, I couldn't pull back hard enough to come even close to stalling it. As soon as I had a minimum of 35 knots, I could pull back all I wanted and do nothing but climb. I had absolutely no head-wind component and my initial climb angle was nearly 45 degrees. This airplane really will leap off the ground. Taking off three-point in a headwind, I doubt that it would need more than 20 feet to get off, although I was using close to 100 most of the time……”

“……To make short-field landings on a chosen spot, you usually like to get the airplane slow enough so you have to use power to drag it in. I was constantly frustrated in the Storch, because I never got it slow enough to need power. Almost every landing was power-off, and eventually I was so exasperated that I was approaching at 25 knots indicated. At that speed, I needed power to soften the touchdown, but it still wasn't slow enough to hang on the prop. …… the really hot-shot German Pilot that instructed us in the Fi 156 would come creeping in over the trees at practically zero airspeed, letting it fall on command and catching it at the last moment with a burst of power….."

“….. I tried to stall it while at altitude and found that it not only refuses to stall, but as long as I had the slightest amount of power in to give it elevator effectiveness, I could easily fly the airplane where I wanted while holding the stick all the way back. Once you master that kind of approach, you could land backwards on an outhouse roof…..”

“……I had a lot of silly things happen while flying this airplane but the silliest was when I tried slipping it. I was high, per usual, so I figured I’d just use a max deflection slip. It works on other airplanes, why not? As I leaned the aileron into it and got on the opposite rudder everything was going just fine until I got about half rudder. At that point, the rudder pressure disappeared and the rudder pedal sank to the floor with no effort from me and stayed there. So, there I was, coming down final sideways with a rudder that was stuck to the floor of its own accord. That scared the living hell out of me! I had to practically stand on the other rudder to get things straighted out. I guess the aerodynamic balance on the rudder is so big that when enough of it catches the wind, it overpowers the surface and yanks it to full deflection……”

“….Maneuvering in the Storch is a real physical workout. The controls feel the way the airplane looks—gawky and loose. The stick forces are anything but light and to keep it completely coordinated, your feet have to thrash in and out as if you were working a treadle sewing machine….”

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch in Finland

 

 

The Storch could be found on every front throughout the European and North African theaters of operation in World War II. It will probably always be most famous for its role in Operation Eiche, the rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain top near the Gran Sasso, surrounded by Italian troops on 12 September 1943. German commando Otto Skorzeny dropped with 90 paratroopers onto the peak and quickly captured it, but the problem remained of how to get back off. A Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter was sent, but it broke down en route. Instead, pilot Walter Gerlach flew in a Storch, landed in 30 m (100 ft), took aboard Mussolini and Skorzeny, and took off again in under 80 m (250 ft), even though the plane was overloaded.