Where did the warbirds plans disappear after the WW2??

[leonardmorpho]

Hello everybody,
Does anybody knows if the plans of WW2 warbirds can still be found? I have been looking on the web for a while and haven't find anything about it. (I would be interested to find plans of the fieseler fi 156 Storch)
Even when I look for a famous warbird, the plans are impossible to find...
So if somebody could help me,
thanks in advance

Leonardmorpho

 

[Pong]

For German plans that would be kind of hard to find, since most of the plans were destroyed before the allies walked into Berlin. But I bet there would several stuff remaining. In the meantime, I'll try searching leonard and check out a couple of my files.

 

[leonardmorpho]

Hi Pong, thanks you for your reply, I didn't found the plans but I saw in an other discussion that there was a website about all the WW2 aiplanes of the Lutwaffe:Luftwaffe Cockpitinstrumente Homepage Titelseite Instrumente Gertebrett Baumuster
and they actually have a manual of the FI-156 Storch.

 

[Shortround6]

Didn't the French (or somebody) build the Fi 156 after the war with a different engine?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Didn't the French (or somebody) build the Fi 156 after the war with a different engine?

They did and used several different engines.

 

[Airframes]

Yes, they did, called the 'Criquet' IIRC. Also, within the last couple of weeks, there has been an article in one of the posts here about the new-build Storch, which look, and perform, like the original.

 

[chip haehnel]

I know as a current builder of military aircraft that plans,schematics, construction drawings and the like are propritory information and would have been back in the day as well. There were execptions that prove the rule (ie Goodyear/Vought) but construction drawings are closely held by the manufacturer. That being gotten out of the way, every riveter had access to the drawings to assure the right spec rivet got stuffed in the right hole. Build to the print. Mistakes were very costly then as now. Assemblers follow the print. There were lots of them, and segmented according to the operation. A riviter did not have to know how to hang an engine, his/her station had the local structurals. The only guy that had a complete set was the cheif engineer,and these are constantly changing in minor details to aid construction flow, prevent wireing/hydralic/control cable conflicts and the like that are unforseeable untill on the build line. I understand that there are some reproductions flying around now. Way cool. For modeling the resources are rich, Photographs being much more reveiling, but if you need to know the routing of the wire to the left wing tip nav light the Smithsonian may be your best bet as they take them apart refurbish and put them together as built.ch

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I know as a current builder of military aircraft that plans,schematics, construction drawings and the like are propritory information and would have been back in the day as well. There were execptions that prove the rule (ie Goodyear/Vought) but construction drawings are closely held by the manufacturer. That being gotten out of the way, every riveter had access to the drawings to assure the right spec rivet got stuffed in the right hole. Build to the print. Mistakes were very costly then as now. Assemblers follow the print. There were lots of them, and segmented according to the operation. A riviter did not have to know how to hang an engine, his/her station had the local structurals. The only guy that had a complete set was the cheif engineer,and these are constantly changing in minor details to aid construction flow, prevent wireing/hydralic/control cable conflicts and the like that are unforseeable untill on the build line. I understand that there are some reproductions flying around now. Way cool. For modeling the resources are rich, Photographs being much more reveiling, but if you need to know the routing of the wire to the left wing tip nav light the Smithsonian may be your best bet as they take them apart refurbish and put them together as built.ch

Actually Chip, most "riveters" better known as structural assemblers had access to most "assembly drawings but depending where they were on the production line, made use of fixtures and jigs when assembling large sub assemblies. There were some drawings kept off the floor because for the most part they were not deemed necessary for assembly. In some cases fastener call outs were actually stamped on the fixture.

In recent years most manufacturers would have drawing booths that distribute photo copied full size drawings. When I worked on the P-3 and L1011 you had access to almost all the drawings included specs and standard part drawings.

Manufacturers will release drawings to the public for out of production aircraft and sometimes WW2 era drawings can be found. When i worked at Lockheed I seen rooms full of drawings discarded when the Burbank facilities were closed down.


Since you mentioneded it, wire routing was usually contained on drawings called "production illustrations" and would serve as guides on how wires were to be routed. These combined with standard practices specs would determine where and how wire bundles would be routed. In final assembly stages assembly mechaincs would hang engines, landing gear and rig control surfaces. You would also have electrical folks checking the integrity of large wire harnesses running through the aircraft. In recent years this was done with a "Dipnico" (sp?) machine that was nothing more than a giant continunity tester.

This is a general overview and will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I've worked for Lockheed, Northrop, Boeing and Sikorsky (as a contractor) and for the most part they run similar systems with regards to drawings and their control.

 

[Butters]

I know from doing some searching on my own in an attempt to get the word from the horse's (manufacturers) mouth, that many of those old plans, specs, and records have been destroyed, either thru accidents like fires, or because the companies discarded their archives to reduce costs. This is esp common when companies are taken over, as has happened so often in the aircraft industry.

It's a shame that so much has been lost to history, but that's what happens when the bean-counters hold the reins. Nothing matters but the bottom line...

 

[RabidAlien]

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch blueprint - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

 

[leonardmorpho]

thanks for all those informations
Morane-Saulnier factories were used by the Germans to build a large number of Fieseler Storch. Maurane-Saulnier continued to build Fieseler Storch under the name of M.S. 500 Criquet during a few years after the end of the war, which means that they had the plans to build those planes.The manufacture was then sold to AEROSPATIALE in 1965 and then became know as the SOCATA (Société de Construction d'Avions de Tourisme et d'Affaires).

I looked on the website of the current company but didn't find anything about their previous airplanes and especially about the WW2 airplanes I think that this is also because it wasn't one of their conception. The making of the Storch was also continued in Choceň, Czechoslovakia after the end of the war and were named as K-65 Čáp.

 

[leonardmorpho]

Does somebody have any informations ; schematics, drawings, plans, manuals (anything)... of the FI-156 Storch?

 

[Njaco]

This might be interesting for you....

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/fi-156-storch-made-serbia-18913.html

 

[MiTasol]

Contact the NASM Archive. They have the captured drawings on microfilm