Fieseler Fi 156 „Storch" (German Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, „Stork" in translation from German – stork) – German army light reconnaissance, communications and target designation aircraft, created and widely used in the Third Reich and allied countries in the period from 1937 to 1945. The unique flight qualities of the aircraft, in addition to its main purpose, made it possible to perform a much wider range of tasks: setting smoke screens, dropping various types of cargo and weapons, sea patrols using depth charges, as a light bomber, to evacuate the wounded and rescue downed pilots. Its release continued until the late 1950s, mainly for the private aircraft market. It remains widely known to this day.

Design and launch into production

In 1935, the Reich Air Ministry of the Third Reich placed a tender order for a new aircraft for the Luftwaffe, capable of performing reconnaissance and reconnaissance missions and evacuating the wounded, in accordance with the needs of the troops identified during some research. The competition was won by Fieseler – its proposal to create an aircraft that meets the concept of „short takeoff and landing" was the best. The chief designer Reinhold Mewes and the company’s technical director Erich Bachen proposed a design that provided the possibility of an almost vertical takeoff in the event of a strong frontal wind, the wings on the ground at the aircraft folded back along the fuselage, spring springs suppressed about 45 cm of amplitude when landing. The plane could land almost everywhere – a runway with a length of only 60 meters was enough, and when landing with a headwind, the mileage was even shorter. During transportation, the aircraft could be transported folded in the back of a truck or even slowly towed behind you. This model won the tender with ease.

Flight performance

Specifications


Crew: 2 people.

Length: 9.90 m

Wingspan: 14.25 m

Height: 3.05 m

Wing area: 25.20 m_

Empty weight: 930 kg

Normal takeoff weight: 1325 kg

Powerplant: 1 _ PD Argus As 10C-3

Engine power: 1 _ 240 hp With.


Flight characteristics


Maximum speed: 175 km / h

Cruising speed: 150 km / h

Practical range: 385 km

Service ceiling: 4600 m

Rate of climb: 280 m / min


Armament


Small arms: one 7.92 mm MG-15 machine gun in the rear of the cockpit


Modifications

Fi 156C-1 of the Swiss Air Force.


Fi 156 – prototypes with numbers Versuchs… First prototype V1 first took off in the spring of 1936. It was equipped with a 180 kW air-cooled engine (240 hp), an inverted V-engine Argus As 10C V8, which allowed the aircraft to reach a maximum speed of only 175 km / h, with a minimum a speed of 50 km / h, and a landing run of 18 meters. Subsequently, improved replacements were developed – V2 and V3equipped with skis V4 and the last option is V5…

Fi 156A-0 – the model is at the testing stage, it has not been launched into mass production.

Fi156A-1 – the first modification of aircraft for mass production. The order for the model in the amount of 16 units came from the Luftwaffe, the first copy entered service in mid-1937.

Fi156B – a variant with many small changes-improvements and one big one – a change in the design of the retractable slat. The changes allow the model to reach speeds of 208 km / h.

Fi 156C – a variant of the model with further subdivision into:

C-0

C-1 – three-seater version (in service since 1939) Replaced in 1941 by C-3 (see below)

C-2 – two-seater observation and reconnaissance version with MG-15 machine gun located at the rear (in service since 1939)

C-3 – Replacement of the two previous versions of the „curtain". a versatile model that combines the advantages of the C-1 and C-2 and is suitable for any use.

C-5 – C-3 with a disposable fuel tank located at the bottom of the bottom. Some were equipped with skis for use on the snow.

C-3 / Trop – Fi 156C-5 version for use in tropical climates with engine air filters to protect from dust and sand.



Fi 156D – a sanitary facility based on Fi 156C, with an Argus AsP engine, an enlarged cabin for accommodating one stretcher and with an enlarged cargo hatch. Prototypes were designated D-0, serial – D-1…

Fi 156E – ten experimental variants equipped with tracked chassis

Fi 256 – a five-seater civilian version of the model, produced at the Morane-Saulnier plant in France.

Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquet – French post-war production with 240 liters. with the powerful Argus engine

Morane-Saulnier MS-501 Criquet – option with 233 liters. With. Renault 6Q engine

Morane-Saulnier MS-502 Criquet – MS-500 with Argus engine replaced with 230 hp with. -powerful star-shaped compressorless engine Salmson 9ab.

Morane-Saulnier MS-504 Criquet – option with 304 hp With. Jacobs R-755-A2 engine.

Morane-Saulnier MS-505 Criquet – MS-500 with Argus engine replaced by 304 hp with.-powerful star-shaped compressorless engine Jacobs R-755-A2.

Morane-Saulnier MS-506 Criquet – option with 235 liters. With. Lycoming engine.

Mr_z K-65 __p – Czechoslovak post-war production.

Antonov OKA-38 „Aist" – a Soviet pre-war modification of the „Stork" with Renault MV-6 engines, the fuselage is lengthened, the length is reduced, but the width of the planes is increased; after the capture of the manufacturing plant by German troops in 1941, production was continued.


Model operating countries


Bulgaria

Cambodia (post-war period)

Croatia

Czechoslovakia (post-war period)

Finland – two Fi-156 aircraft were in the LeR-1 aviation regiment of the Finnish Air Force by the beginning of the Finnish war 1939-1940

France (post-war period)

Third Reich

Greece (post-war period)

Hungary

Italy

Laos (post-war period)

Norway (post-war period)

Poland (post-war period)

Romania

Slovakia

South Vietnam (post-war period)

the USSR

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Great Britain

Yugoslavia