Jan Forsgren has just published his latest book through Fonthill Media. His subject this time is the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch - " The First STOL aircraft". As with his previous works Jan has attempted to include details on all the various operators of the type and not just concentrate on the Luftwaffe. One aspect of Jan's books that I always enjoy are the chapters on post-war operators; in the case of the Storch that includes many that were virtually unknown to me, from Albania to Egypt to Japan and Yugoslavia. The author includes photos of Storchs and its Czech- and French-built variants from almost every country that flew them, apart from Albania, Croatia, Egypt, Greece and Japan. For example, did you know that a number of Polish Air Force Storchs were sent to Albania in the late 1940s, to be flown by Greek Communist guerillas on night nuisance raids against the Greek government Force?
There is also a chapter on contemporary Storch clones, as well as the various ultralight scale replicas from the late 1990s. It is possible that some potential readers will find this both superfluous and of little interest, but as the author writes, he wanted to present a 'complete' history of the Storch. For instance, the Slepcev Storch - a 75% scale replica -was marketed to Australian sheep farmers. After all, it flies low and slow, also being able to take off and land in less than 100 feet!
An overview of Jan Forsgren's books published by Fonthill Media
