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FIESELER STORCH FI-156

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History: The FI-156 was an Airplane designed in Germany in 1935 by Dr. Gerhard Fieseler. In that same year, the reputation of his company for having built the first light STOL airplane was firmly established. The design staff centered its efforts in a new airplane, encouraged by the civil and military markets. An airplane configuration of three seats, high wing monoplane, with an Argus ACE 10C V inverted and eight cylinder engine providing 240 HP.

The design incorporated a combination of fixed slats in the leading edge, and fowler flaps, previously proven on the FI-97 and a hydraulic landing gear capable of absorbing hard landing impacts. It was soon nicknamed the “Storch”.

During the Second World War, it was extensively used in the African Theatre by the famous Field Marshal Irvin Romel, who flew his own FI-156 on the battlefront directing his troops and artillery fire.
In September 1943, Hitler gave SS Soldier Otto Skorzeny the order to rescue dictator Benito Mussolini from the Alberto refuge, located in the Great Sasso, the highest mountain in the Apennines, where he was being held captive. Skorzeny's initial plan was to use the Focke-Aghelis 223 helicopter, but it proved useless, so a Storch was selected as the alternative. A Storch, flown by Gerlach, flew over the area and under extreme conditions landed, rescued Mussolini, and took off.
In 1940 France collapsed and aircraft production stopped. In 1942 the RLM (German Air Ministry) selected Morane Saulnier to build the FI-156 at their Pateaux factory.
Once World War II ended, the Storch designation was changed to Morane Saulnier MS 500 Criquet. Some of these renamed aircraft saw action during the French Colonial Wars in Africa and Indo-China.