Military Model Scene

Title: The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch
Author: Jan Forsgren
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN: 978-1-78155-813-3

As the sub-title tells us, the First STOL Aircraft. Another fine book from author Jan Forsgren, and this time he takes us through the story of another famous German aircraft of WW2, one which starts in the mid-1930s, through the whole course of WW2 and then into the Cold War era with a number of other users. A hard-cover book of 192-pages in this instance.
After the Introduction, the 14 chapters take us through a fascinating story of one of the less glamorous aircraft of WW2, not a heavily armed fast fighter or bomber, but a lightly armed, slow, reconnaissance and communications machine that was built in large numbers. We see the background of the man behind it, Gerhard Fieseler, the Technical Description of the Storch, plus the RLM Specification it was designed to meet, along with a look at the competitors it faced for the orders. Then there is the Luftwaffe service history, which includes the basic role of spotting for Panzer divisions during the Blitzkrieg of 1940, plus famous users such as Rommel, the rescue of Mussolini from the Gran Sasso in 1943 and the female test pilot, Hanna Reitsch who flew one in and out of Berlin in the final weeks of the war. Then it moves on to the influence this successful design had on other aircraft designers both during and after the war. Post war production continued in Czechoslovakia and France, who also made a radial engine version, the MS 502. Aircraft captured intact became popular with their new owners, while some were sold to allies during the war so there are examples with plenty of foreign operators. IN the final part of the book there are details of many surviving examples kept to this day, some still flying and others just as museum exhibits. Three appendices give details of Luftwaffe Production, Post-war production and lastly those Storches used by the RAF.
One of the many archive images which illustrate the story throughout the book which caught my attention was one of 9 Storch aircraft (including at least one with the French radial engine) on the deck of a French aircraft carrier, being ferried out to the Far East, where they were used during the war in Indo-China. Others show another useful feature, the ability to fold the wings, ideal when they were carried on trailers by the advancing Panzer divisions so they could be deployed when needed. A very interesting read and I learnt a lot more about the Storch, the background and design, plus especially in post-war operation.
Thanks to Fonthill Media for our review copy.

Robin