I was not able to find out much information about my caputured bird. Here is what I did find out. The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was designed in the summer of 1935 by Gerhard Fieseler and Reinhold Mewes. Prototypes V1 - V3 where 3 seaters and had fixed slats. The first flight was on May 24 1936. The V1 had a metal prop that was varible pitch but it had to be adjusted on the ground. V3 was a military version with a fixed wooden prop. Prototpye V4 was fitted with skies. The first production was Fi 156A-1 in 1937 with delevery to the LW late in 1937. Each LW Gruppe would receive one or two Fi 156C-1. The Fi 156C-2 was armed with a 7.92 mm MG and had provisions for a recon camera. Options included a drop tank, skies and a attachment for a stretcher.
In 1939, the Storch was given to Finland, Switzerland and Italy. Stalin was given one after signing the non-aggression pact in the summer of 1939. Stalin ordered Oleg Antonov to make copies. Soon the Russinas had their own Stork, the OKA-38 with a MV-6 engine copied fromthe renault inline 164-kW. The OKA-34 factory was over ran by the German army before the planes could be deleveried in the summer of 1941.
The Fi 165C-5 was fitted with a tropical filter and either a drop tank or recon camera for use in North Africa. The Fi 156D-1 started production in late 1941 and was produced at the same time as the Fi 156C. The D models had the right side hinges to allow for rapid loading and unloading of stretchers. The Fi 156E also came out in 1941. The E model had tandum wheels with a track to reduce wear while taxiing on rough ground.
Captured Strochs where used by all of the allied nations. At lease 47 Fi 156C-3 trop and C-5 trop were used by GB in the Mediterranian theather. By 1945 the RAF had over sixty Fi 156s on the books. VM472 was the personal aircraft of Field Marshal Montgomery.
More photos by the end of the week.
DBII