Fieseler Fi 156 – Photos & Video

The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (English: Stork) was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It remains famous for its excellent STOL performance; French-built later variants often appear at air shows.

Source: Fieseler Fi 156 on Wikipedia

The Fieseler Fi 156 was a German military reconnaissance aircraft of World War II, manufactured by Fieseler and designed in 1935. It was nicknamed Storch (stork in German) because of its high landing gear. It was used by the Luftwaffe for observation, liaison, ambulance and personal transport of high-ranking officers. It had remarkable capabilities such as maneuverability, extremely low stall speed of 50 km/h, and short take-off and landing (STOL) features. It had leading-edge slats, slotted flaps and a long, wide and very absorbing landing gear that allowed it to land almost anywhere in less than 25 m. The most famous mission of the Storch was the risky rescue of the former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1943 from a tiny rock plateau at a high altitude in the Apennine mountains. Between 1937 and 1945, the Luftwaffe received about 2,900 Storchs. Other countries also used the Fi 156: Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and Italy.