Fly Past

November 2018 FLYPAST 65

SPOT FACT The Storch was used on

every main European and African front

Spotlight

history

Fi 256  ve-seat versions were built by Morane-Saulnier

22

e

(1896-1987) was a former World

War One fighter pilot with 19

confirmed and three unconfirmed

aerial victories on the Eastern Front.

A printer by trade, he eventually

sold his business and became a

flying instructor in 1926 and, in

1930, bought the Segelflugzeugbau

Kassel sailplane company. Being

a Nazi party member, contracts

seemed to follow quickly. Fieseler’s

blueprint, the combined brainchild

of chief designer Reinhold Mewes

(formerly of manufacturers Heinkel

and Blohm und Voss) and technical

director Erich Bachem, was for a

high-wing single-engined lightweight

aircraft with a capability enhanced by

fixed slats on the wing leading edge,

and flaps and ailerons that filled the

entire trailing edge.

To explain this more fully

evaluation of a captured Storch by

both the French and British in 1945

stated: “The slats were fixed and of

11.25in chord reaching from the

[wing] root to within 12.25in of

the wingtips. The total slat area was

37.8 square feet. The slotted flaps

were interconnected with slotted

ailerons so that the ailerons were

automatically set down to 12.5

degrees from neutral when the flaps

were fully down (40 degrees).”

This gave the Storch its remarkable

short take-off and landing ability,

the same report stating the optimal

take-off run was 150 yards and

landing run a mere 42 yards (the

length of two cricket squares).

Its unique cockpit area also gave

the Storch near-perfect all-round

visibility, while its distinctive fixed

undercarriage engendered the

look of a long-legged bird such as

the Stork...and the name stuck.

Another innovation was that its

wings could be folded rearwards,

making it easier for ground

transportation, towing and storage.

Production

After the RLM awarded the

contract to Fieseler in 1935, the first

prototype, coded D-IBXY, made

its maiden flight in May 1936.

Airframe V-1, as it was known, had

a bigger tail and bulkier fuselage

behind the cockpit, and slightly

different wings compared with later

iterations. From V-2 onwards, the

aircraft was changed to look like

all subsequent Storchs, namely a

thinner fuselage and smaller tail.

Flight trials were satisfactory and

from then on, the Storch became

one of the few new German aircraft

unhindered by development and

engine problems; its powerplant

was the Argus AS 10. As a result,

Fi 256  ve-seat versions were built by Morane-SaulFi 256  ve-seat versions were built by Morane-Saulniernier

short take-off and landing ability,

examples of the first production

aircraft, the Fi 156 A, were delivered

to the Luftwaffe in 1937, quickly

followed by the main production

model, the Fi 156 C. Initially, the

C differed little from the A but as

the war continued, new sub-variants

introduced changes to the cockpit,

seating and canopy layout, defensive

weapons and adaption for desert

operations. This was followed by the

D version, designed for aeromedical

duties. There were other intended

uses such as anti-partisan and anti-

shipping operations, but these did

not come to fruition.

The Storch was initially built at the

Fieseler Werke at Kassel, Germany.

Then in 1942, production started at

the Morane-Saulnier (MS) factory

at Puteaux on the western suburbs

of Paris, after which it moved to

the Leichtbau Budweis factory at

Budweis and then to the Mraz

r

Top

The classic lines of the

Storch are evident in this

view of TK+JE, illustrating

the very wide track of

the type’s stalky main

undercarriage when on

the ground. MALCOLM V

LOWE COLLECTION

Above

Shown in Norway, in

April 1940, these two

Storchs sport different

camoufl age. Note the

markings on the nearest

aircraft have been mostly

painted over.

Below

Close-up illustrating

the distinctive engine

air intake and the

struts supporting the

undercarriage. This

photograph shows aircraft

46-2 in Spain.