Well Saturday August 11th, 2012 was the day German World War Two fighters, a Messerschmitt Bf-109E and Focke-Wulf FW-190A-5 were meant to fly at the Flying Heritage Collection – Luftwaffe Flying Day. Alas things didn’t quite work out as planned!
The Bf-109 was ruled out due to technical problems, so it was replaced in the flying schedule by a Fieseler Fi-156 Storch (Stork). The Storch is a German World War Two Liaison aircraft with an incredible Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) capability.
Although not as exciting as a fighter the Storch is a cool aircraft. The Luftwaffe aircraft then headed out for takeoff.
Then more problems occurred! Out on the tarmac waiting to take off, the FW-190 stopped and headed back – technical problems too! You can not risk such rare warbirds, especially those that are around 70 years old!
The Storch got airborne without a hitch. The pilot of the little liaison aircraft put on a great display. Highlighting the short take-off and slow speed capabilities perfect for observation work etc at the front.
Although the Storch took to the air without any problems, unfortunately the woes for FHC didn’t stop there. The Storch blew a tyre on landing!!!
Luckily the US Marine Corps kind of saved the day with their 5 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets that were at Paine Field on an exercise! Oh and a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner that was on a test flight from the nearby Boeing Factory!
It was sort of funny though watching a 70 year old World War Two vintage Fieseler Storch with a flat tyre out on the tarmac preventing 4 US Marine Corps Hornets from taking off!
They eventually got a dolly on the offending tyre and pushed the Storch back into the hangar for repairs (all on board were safe as it lands very slowly and stops in a very short distance). The Marines could then take off without any drama…”OOH-RA”!!!
Despite all the setbacks it was a fun day!
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