Fieseler
Fi 156 Storch
 Photo: Robert Deering 10/18/2012
National Museum of the USAF
Wright-Paterson AFB (FFO)
Dayton, Ohio
Fi 156 Storch
Designed in 1935, the Storch was widely used during World War II by German military forces for reconnaissance, liaison and aeromedical transport. High-ranking officers also used Fi 156s as personal transports. Notable features of the Storch included its good maneuverability, extremely low stalling speed of 32 mph, and excellent short field takeoff and landing characteristics. Between 1937 and 1945, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) accepted almost 2,900 Fi 156s.

Other countries using the Fi 156 included Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Italy. The most famous Storch mission was the hazardous rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1943 from a tiny rock-strewn plateau at a remote lodge high in the Apennine Mountains.
SPECIFICATIONS: PERFORMANCE:
Span:  46 ft. 9 in. Maximum speed:  109 mph
Length:  32 ft. 6 in. Cruising speed:  93 mph
Height:  10 ft. Range:  238 miles
Empty Weight:  Service ceiling:  17,300 ft.
Gross Weight:  2,904 lbs. maximum  
Crew: 
Engines:  One Argus As 10C-3 of 240 hp
Armament: 
   
SOURCE:  National Museum of the United States Air Force  

Photo: Robert Deering 1985
National Museum of the USAF
Wright-Paterson AFB (FFO)
Dayton, Ohio

Gerhard Fieseler Werke

The Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 40s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

The firm was founded on April 1, 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugbau in Kassel by World War I flying ace and aerobatic champion Gerhard Fieseler. Fieseler had been a manager for the Raab-Katzenstein, but when this company went bankrupt, Fieseler bought a sailplane factory in Kassel and quickly turned it to building sports planes. At the same time, Fieseler still custom-built sailplanes for some of Germany's most prominent designers and pilots, including Wolf Hirth's "Musterle" and Robert Kronfeld's "Wien" and "Austria" (for many years the largest sailplane ever built).

In 1934, the company achieved prominence when Fieseler won the World Aerobatics Championship in an aircraft his company had built, the F2 Tiger. This was followed by the highly successful F5, generally regarded as a classic among sports planes. Even greater success was to follow in 1936 when an aircraft of Fieseler's own design won a tender over aircraft from both Messerschmitt and Siebel for a new STOL observation and liaison aircraft for the Luftwaffe. Designated the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork), the company would produce over 3,000 during World War II. In 1939 the company name changed to the Gerhard Fieseler Werke.

Fieseler's other wartime production would largely consist of building other firms' aircraft under licence, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In 1941 however, a Fieseler project for an unpiloted flying bomb attracted the attention of the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium - "Reich Aviation Ministry"). This went into production as the Fieseler FZG-76 (flakzielgerät, antiaircraft target), better known as the V-1.

The Fieseler factory was the target of many Allied air raids, but continued production throughout the war. Following the War, part of the factory continued in business for a few years, producing automotive components. Its most famous products, the Storch and the V1, continued to be produced by foreign companies.

Source: Wikipedia