The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liason aircraft built by Fiesler before and during WW II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It remains famous to this day for its excellent STOL performance; French-built later variants often appear at air shows.
The Storch was deployed in all European and North African theaters of World War II. But it is probably most famous for its role in Operation Eiche, the rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain-top near the Gran Sasso. Even though the mountain was surrounded by Italian troops, German commando Otto Skorzeny and 90 paratroopers parachuted onto the peak and quickly captured it. But the problem remained of how to get back off. A Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter was sent, but it broke down en route. Instead, pilot Walter Gerlach flew in a Storch. It landed in 30 m (100 ft), and after Mussolini and Skorzeny boarded, it took off in 80 m (250 ft), even though the plane was overloaded. The Storch involved in rescuing Mussolini bore the radio code letters, or Stammkennzeichen, of "SJ + LL" in the motion picture coverage of the daring rescue.
Eén uitvoering mogelijk;
- German Waffen SS Hauptsturmführer, Otto Skorzeny, Mussolini rescue operation use airframe, Gran Sasso Italy, September 12, 1943.
Afmetingen;
- Lang; 308 mm.
- Spanwijdte; 442 mm.
