November 2018 FLYPAST 79Spotlight on a
Storch restorationinitiative – he wondered if he had
embarked on a project that was
beyond him, or was just plain
crazy to start with. But he never
considered quitting. On at least one
occasion he had an amazing stroke
of luck that felt better than winning
the lottery.
“The engine mount on the Storch
is quite a complicated aluminium
contraption, and impossible to
find,” he recalls. “All of a sudden
I got a call from a friend. He had
stumbled across the estate of some
guy who had hoarded lots of bric-
a-brac. The engine mount I needed
was simply lying on the ground,
next to a garbage truck that was
about to carry it off to landfill! This
friend of mine was probably the only
person in Norway who possessed
the knowledge to even recognise the
item in question.
“Just about the only part still
missing on the plane is the axle of a
hand crank, which can be used for
starting the engine. If someone hassuch an item lying around, fitting
a 1944 Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, then
certainly please do call at your
earliest convenience!”The nishing line
On another occasion Nørstegård
took a call from an elderly
gentleman from the Norwegian
village of Dombås – another
location with a Storch connection.
The Germans had to clear their
own minefields after the war, as
shown in the 2015 Danish-German
film Land of Mine. Accidents were
commonplace. A trio of Fieselers
were used during the work, mostly
for transporting the wounded to a
field hospital at Dombås.have swapped parts. Three of us
simultaneously commissioned one
exhaust outlet each, which of course
was cheaper than if we had ordered
them individually.”
The ten years and 9,250 working
hours spent on the restoration was
a team effort. Between four and
six men have been working for
approximately 750 evenings at Tor’s
workshop, appropriately named
‘The Stork’s Nest’. They’ve also
found time for barbecues, chit-chat
and coffee.
Nørstegård says that to take on
such a project, four things need to
be in place: acceptance at home,
the necessary financial means, a
workshop, and last but not least
an aircraft. He speaks highly of his
wife Mari, who was very supportive
throughout the process. He also
stresses that a lot of other people
and companies have supported
the restoration.
Tor naturally had moments of
self-doubt during the ten-year1,2301,230
of the most numerous version, the C-3, were built by Fieseler
Left centre
The hand-operated MG 15
machine gun.Left
The original landing
light featuring a name
plate from Berlin-based
manufacturer Pintch.Left
Even the undercarriage
has been painted as
authentically as possible.Below left
Inside the cockpit,
which has been
faithfully restored.