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Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork)


Reconnaissance / Army Co-operation Multi-Purpose Aircraft


Nazi Germany | 1937



"The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a multi-faceted performer for the Third Reich in World War 2."

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Fieseler Fi 156C-2 Storch (Stork) Reconnaissance / Army Co-operation Multi-Purpose Aircraft.
1 x Argus As 10C-3 inverted V8, air-cooled, radial piston engine developing 240hp.
Propulsion
106 mph
170 kph | 92 kts
Max Speed
15,092 ft
4,600 m | 3 miles
Service Ceiling
239 miles
385 km | 208 nm
Operational Range
945 ft/min
288 m/min
Rate-of-Climb
Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Fieseler Fi 156C-2 Storch (Stork) Reconnaissance / Army Co-operation Multi-Purpose Aircraft.
2
(MANNED)
Crew
32.5 ft
9.90 m
O/A Length
46.8 ft
(14.25 m)
O/A Width
10.0 ft
(3.05 m)
O/A Height
2,050 lb
(930 kg)
Empty Weight
2,921 lb
(1,325 kg)
MTOW
Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) Reconnaissance / Army Co-operation Multi-Purpose Aircraft .
OPTIONAL (Variant Dependent):
1 OR 2 x 7.92mm machine gun(s) in rear trainable gun position or side cabin windows.
Depth Charges
Conventional Drop Bombs
Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) family line.
Fi 156 V1 - Initial Prototype; metal adjustable propeller; single example produced.
Fi 156 V2 - Prototype Model; initial flyable example; fitted with wood propeller; single example produced.
Fi 156 V3 - Prototype Model; based on the V2 prototype; testbed for radio communications equipment; single example produced.
Fi 156 V4 - Prototype Model; based on the V3 prototype; winter ski undercarriage; optional auxiliary fuel tank.
Fi 156 V5 - Prototype Model; A-series production standard.
Fi 156 A-0 - Pre-production examples based on the V3 prototype; 10 examples produced; unarmed.
Fi 156 A-1 - Initial Production Examples; between 6 and 16 aircraft delivered; unarmed.
Fi 156 B - Proposed Improved Production Model; fitted with automatic retractable landing gear slats; improved aerodynamics and speed; never mass-produced.
Fi 156 C-0 - Multi-role pre-production models based on A-series production models.
Fi 156 C-1 - Staff Transport/Liaison Role Designation; seating for three.
Fi 156 C-2 - Reconnaissance/MedEvac Variant; reconnaissance role fitted with single camera; accommodation for 2 personnel; MedEvac role has provision for single stretcher; reconnaissance model fitted a single MG 15 machine gun in rear cockpit.
Fi 156 C-3 - "Definitive" Storch; multi-purpose/multi-role model; powered up Argus As 10P engine; universal cockpit for various required roles.
Fi 156 C-3/Trop - Tropicalized Variant of base C-3 model; filtered engine air intakes; appearing in 1941.
Fi 156 C-5 - Fitted with Argus As 10P engine; provision for photographic reconnaissance camera in under fuselage position; provision for jettisonable fuel tank; winter ski undercarriage optional.
Fi 156 C-5/Trop - Tropicalized Variant of base C-5 model; filtered engine air intakes; appearing in 1941.
Fi 156 D-0 - Pre-Production Air Ambulance Model based on the C-production models; enlarged cockpit compartment; enlarged cabin doors; fitted with Argus AsP series engine.
Fi 156 D-1 - Production Model of the D-0 pre-production form beginning in 1942.
Fi 156 E-0 - Liaison Variant; based on the C-1 production models; at least 10 examples fitted with tracked undercarriage; production beginning in 1941.
Fi 156 F (also Fi 156 P) - Counter-Insurgency Variant; based on C-3 production model; appearing in 1942; fitted with general purpose machine guns in side cabin windows; provision for conventional drop bombs and smoke-laying devices.
Fi 156 U - Anti-Submarine Variant; based on the C-3 production model; provision for depth charges; appearing in 1940.
Fi 156 K-1 - Swedish Export Variant based on the C-1 production model.
Fi 256 - Five Seat Civilian Passenger Transport; at least two examples were produced by French firm Morane-Saulnier.
MS-500 - French Liaison Variant; fitted with Argus engine of 250 horsepower.
MS-501 - French Built Variant; fitted with Renault 6Q engine of 233 horsepower.
MS-502 - French Liaison Variant; based on the MS-500 production model; fitted with Salmson 9ab radial piston engine of 230 horsepower.
MS-504 - French Built Variant; fitted with Jacobs R-755-A2 radial piston engine of 304 horsepower.
MS-505 - French Built Observation Variant based on the MS-500 production model; fitted with Jacobs R-755-A2 radial piston engine of 304 horsepower.
MS-506 - French Built Variant; fitted with Lycoming engine of 235 horsepower.
Mraz K-65 Cap - Czechoslovakian Built Variant; post-war.
Antonov OKA-38 - Illegal Soviet Copy of Fi 156; fitted with illegal copy of French Renault MV-6 engine; production halted before deliveries by invading German ground forces in 1941.
Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/12/2017 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The seemingly fragile Fieseler Fi 156 Storch(or "Stork") does not seem to have a home in a global conflict as World War 2 was yet the little machine became a spectacular multi-purpose airframe to which the Third Reich put to good use throughout the war and on all fronts. The versatile performer allowed for just about any field or road to be used as a base of operations and the system could loiter in the skies for a time in the slightest of headwinds. These capabilities allowed the Storch to perform as an effective reconnaissance, mission liaison and air ambulance in its time during the war. When called upon, this stork delivered.

Design of the Fi 156 was almost utilitarian. Wings were of a monoplane design mounted high atop the fuselage with the smallish cockpit just underneath. The most identifiable feature of the Stork lay in the angled fixed landing gear, with its connecting struts making their way from fuselage to wings. The engine was mounted at extreme front and powered up to about 240 horsepower. The fuselage proved durable and capable of light-type sorties that in some cases saw single litters of wounded being brought aboard in the medevac role.

The basic yet competent construction allowed the Storch access to remote and sometimes unforgiving terrain. The aircraft was designed in such a way that the airframe proved to be a terrific short take-off and landing (STOL) performer. Such were its capabilities that the aircraft needed less than a football field's length take off and much less than that to land on. This was evident in the grand rescue of Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini from his Gran Sasso prison in 1943, playing a part alongside the German special forces units. In the end, the Storch appeared in a handful of variants through to the final days of the war.

Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 2,949 Units

Contractor(s): Fieseler - Germany / Morane-Saulnier - France / Mraz - Czechoslovakia / Antonov - Soviet Union
National flag of Bulgaria National flag of Croatia National flag of Czechia National flag of France National flag of Finland National flag of modern Germany National flag of Nazi Germany National flag of Greece National flag of Hungary National flag of Italy National flag of the Kingdom of Italy National flag of Norway National flag of Poland National flag of Romania National flag of Slovakia National flag of the Soviet Union National flag of Spain National flag of Sweden National flag of Switzerland National flag of the United Kingdom National flag of Vietnam National flag of Yugoslavia

[ Bulgaria; Cambodia; Croatia; Czechoslovakia; Finland; France; Nazi Germany; Greece; Hungary; Kingdom of Italy; Laos; Norway; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; South Vietnam; Soviet Union; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia ]
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Image of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork)
Front left side view of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch at rest; color
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Image of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork)
Left side view of a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch aircraft on display; color
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Image of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork)
Underside front left view of a suspended Fieseler Fi 156 Storch on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio; color

Going Further...
The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) Reconnaissance / Army Co-operation Multi-Purpose Aircraft appears in the following collections:
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