Fieseler Fi 156D-1 'Storch' | Planes of Fame Air Museum

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Fieseler Fi 156D-1 'Storch'

HISTORY

The Fi 156 Storch is well known as a rugged, multi-role liaison, reconnaissance and ambulance aircraft. Features such as its fixed slat over the leading edge of the wing, slotted camber-changing flaps, and massive engine gave the Storch impressive STOL flight characteristics. Able to take off in 200 feet and land in as little as 66 feet, a suit- able airfield could be created almost anywhere for the Storch. Some would say the Storch was over-engineered for its job, considering the Piper L-4 did most of the same work with a much smaller and less thirsty 65 hp 4-cylinder engine.
Of the Storch's many claims to fame, there are two that stand out. In 1943 a Storch was used in the rescue of Benito Mussolini from his imprisonment in an Apennine Mountain hotel in Italy. In May of 1945 Pilot Duane Francis and observer Lt. William Martin flying in a Piper L4 shot down a Fi 156 Storch using their Colt 45 sidearms. It was the last aerial combat victory of the European War.
Surprisingly, the Storch was used by the Allies as well as the Axis. British Field Marshall Montgomery used a captured aircraft as an aerial reconnaissance platform. General Eisenhower also had use of a Storch. General Patton was offered a Storch, but refused it.