In part three of the Fieseler Storch Kermie Cam, Kermit finally takes to the sky. See the full flight over and around Fantasy of Flight, with a couple of surprises along the way. Fun stuff. Enjoy.
This is a man who knows how to make an aviation video: NO MUSIC (thank God) and a knowledgeable narration with engine sounds. I'm not asking for the moon here, people, and Kermit does it perfectly.
My vote for the coolest airplane of all time. I'm not a pilot but if I was, I'd love to own a Fieseler Storch. Such an interesting design and so much history behind it. Even if the Germans were our enemies, their aircraft engineering was fantastic. The Storch reflects that in every way. The view from the cockpit is the same one Rommel had when he flew around North Africa by himself, checking out the enemy and landing in the desert among his troops. And the view Mussolini had when Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite commando, rescued him from the mountain hotel in Italy where he was being held prisoner. And the view the famous German woman pilot Hanna Reitsch had when she landed in the streets and took off again during the Battle of Berlin during the last days of Hitler's Reich.
"If you don't have a Fiesler Storch you need to get one" actually that's exactly what I did. Bought an rc model kit of this plane just because of these videos.
I worked at FoF as a teenager. This was always my favorite plane. My last day before I went to Nursing school Ken (i think, names are fuzzy) surprised me and said he was gonna take me up for the flight of the day. But when he started the storch up it started spewing oil. We had to shut it down. I thought my chance was over but we took the Stampe up instead. Most amazing day. 17 years ago and I can close my eyes and remember every bit of it. Best first Job ever!
I'm 15, and i wish to go to my local Anfield to work there! I went one day, and they will acept me, is not close to FoF, but i love airplanes. Im Argentinian, so it's hard to express what I'm trying to say, Sorry :(
Love that plane. My Dad always had a thing for the storch which was strange to me as a kid. He was in the RAF and worked on Spits and Hurricanes towards the end of WW2. Guess he just loved aircraft and the fact that it was German did not matter. He lives through the greatest years of aviation and I thank him for giving me the same interest in these great old birds.
If you take nothing else away from this video, the engineering, the aerodynamics, the sheer thought that went into the creation of this aircraft, one thing everyone can understand is that it is indeed a marvelous observation airplane. Has any aircraft ever created so perfectly fulfilled its mission as well or as completely as the Fieseler Storch? I think not 😉
Agreed, the Storch was exceptional aerodynamically, the closest to a helicopter in performance for its day. As an operational aircraft, it was excellent in the communications role but surprisingly poor in the observation role. It was large and difficult to conceal in forward locations, compared with an Auster or L-3, it had relatively high fuel consumption and the undercarriage was prone to failure on rough ground. The British Auster AOP Mks 1-9 and the American L-3/L-5s were better in those respects. I've flown all the military marks of Auster and they can match the Storch for short field performance if correctly handled. In slow flight, the Auster's stall is relatively benign, compared with the Storch, whose stall could be lethal at low level if a wing is allowed to drop. That said, for sheer non-operational fun flying, the Storch takes some beating. Thanks for such entertaining and professional videos Kermit. Love them all.
Full agree BlueBaron. I love the mechanical aspects, the simple controls, the well thought out features. The folding wings, the WINDOWS - OMG they're awesome. The slots, the flaps and ailerons working together. Even the mixture control method makes sense. Marvelous simplicity yet complicated all wrapped into one.
I'd love to see this thing on some Bush tires!!...It has the "ground breaking" Shock Suspension of a "Super Stoll" Oh wait..the Germans did it over half a Century ago...lol
Herr Kermit Ich habe dein Video über den Fieseler Storch genossen. Ich war in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren mehrere Jahre in Deutschland stationiert. Ich hatte die Gelegenheit, mehrere deutsche Flugzeuge vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg zu sehen und sogar in mehreren zu fahren. Großes Vergnügen. Danke D.J. McCarty USA im Ruhestand Mr. Kermit I have enjoyed your video about the Fieseler Storch. I spent several years stationed in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. I had the opportunity to see several german pre WW2 planes and even rode in several. Great Pleasure. Thank You D.J. McCarty USA Retired
I think that I flew that Stearman back in 2008/9. I had come to see the Storch and the engine and spares collection there. Afterwards I enquired about a joy ride and went over to the big hangar opposite. Had about 30-minute flight in that Stearman (Kaydet?). The pilot flew the takeoff down that runway between the trees and let me do all the flying. We did stall turns which needed massive amounts of rudder in one direction to overcome the torque of the big Continental. I flew back remembering the water tower and he landed. Certificate and mug, 'I flew the Stearman'. Brilliant!
One of these planes was used as the personal transport of the world's greatest test pilot, Eric Brown. He landed one on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier without a hook and used less than 1/3 of the deck doing so.
I could easily land a Cessna 152 on an aircraft carrier without using a tail-hook and take off easily without using the full length of the flight deck.
Just imagine at the time in GERMANY, a v8 air cooled inverted engine, the wing innovations,and was kept flying today, OH WOW, Wunderbar ! Thanks KERMIT
Im so excited how cool this is I can't imagine those below driving on the interstate see a German plane above them is so funny and the thoughts they had seeing this fly overhead 😂 Kermit thanks s I much for preserving history and your verbal statements and knowledge is very cool, I dig it man! 😅😊
This has been my favorite airplane since I read about the Mussolini rescue operation. There were quite a few high ranking German officers who also flew to Storch. Rommel, Guedering, and the highest ranking of them all was Reinhard Heydrich who was a former Luftwaffe pilot and naval officer at one point in his career, but who rose to the rank of Reichs Protector and Director of the SD, the security and Gestapo wing of the SS. I find it amazing that these officers were allowed to fly at all during the war. After a close call where Heydrich was nearly shot down in his Storch, Hitler forbade him from flying for the duration of the war.
I was once taken up in one of these planes and was told that in a head wind the plane would hover or even fly backwards with respect to the ground. Now that's a handy thing for a spotter to be able to do.
Thanks for fulfilling my long-held dream to fly a Storch, in such a beautifully realised virtual experience. A really nice memory for me to dream on with.
Dear Mr. Kermit, the way You explain aviation: the History, the aerodynamics, mechanical systems, simply is for admiring. I am a school teacher myself, love aviation and am a RC modeller whole my life - can only imagine those guys faces when You landed on their strip... These videos about Storch You made are an absolute peace of art. Thank You so much for such a smart and professional, but at the same time so playfull, videos.
Kermie you are seriously THE MAN!!! Hahaha!! Such natural information so easily given brilliant. Quite a few Storch's were captured and used by senior allied commanders during WW2 it was such a respected aircraft.
I just spent 4 hours addicted to your videos. Make more Kermie cam! They are the best aviation videos on RU-vid. Thank you for preserving and flying those historic planes. I will definitely come see the museum next time I and in Florida
Hey Kermit, seeing you get alongside the stearaman remids me of a time when I was flying by your place in one of Jack Browns cubs on floats and you joined in for a short formation flying. That was my one and only aerial encounter with a fieseler Storch in this lifetime. I#d love to fly it one of these days. Thanks for sharing. Love and light, Gerhard
Gerhard Paasche that must’ve been pretty cool flying alongside a Storch! Have always loved that airplane. Jack Brown gave me my check ride for my private pilot license. Very nice gentleman. Never did get a float plane endorsement, must be fun to do. Happy flying!
Hi Kermit , thanks for taking me with you in the Storch . I love that plane too ! I imagined I was flying from my local air strip , Fairoaks in Surrey England Thanks for explaining the controls too . Best regards Jim Simpson
Kermie Bro, Not a bad day when you can fly, chase down your buddy in a biplane, and then land on a remote control airplane field...all in a Fieseler Storch!! Dreaming the live, and keep sharing!
What a gorgeous airplane, I am extremely jealous Sir! I have a long, ongoing love affair with aircraft that are capable of flying low and slow. When I was a kid I was heavily involved with the Civil Air Patrol in Coastal Georgia and gained an appreciation for the L-16 our Squadron flew out of Savannah (dubbed, of course, "Super Bird"). We spent a lot of time searching for bent airplanes in the Okefenokee Swamp. Later, in the Air Force I had the opportunity to get some boot leg stick time in a Bronco, thanks to an understanding Major who also spent time as a kid in the swamps looking for bent airplanes and was lucky enough to crew an MH-53. But it just isn't the same. Thank you for that excellent video! Instant subscriber!
What an excellent 3 part series! I was at the edges of my seat the entire time. The history, the flight, the pre flight Inspection they were all great. So glad I was able to watch a true professional. And it was just him and the plane In the video. No music. His voice & the engine are perfect!
Kermit, you are having more fun than a human being is allow to have! :) I was flying that Fi-156 right along with you. The Fiesler Storch is one of my all time favorite airplanes. Oh, I noticed that the "turn indicator" was inop - and, it looked like the "slip/skid ball" was frozen in the race. Hey, who needs all of that "high tech" stuff! :) Thanks, N-6395T
Couldn't help but notice the V/S indicator being buried negative, great video series Kermit and thank you for the experience with this fantastic aircraft.
What a glorious aircraft. Nice work working with it. Excellent video. Makes me want to get into flying again. This is one of my most favorite aircraft ever made. Wonderful machine.
What a hoot! Another terrific video Kermit. You are a classic teller of the story of an aircraft. A great video, and huge fun seeing how much you enjoy it.
I flrew Louie Kaufmann's Storch out of Palomar Airport (Carlbad, CA) in the '70''s. On my 1st landing it began to settle to the left and I thought it was going to ground loop, but then saw it was still running down the center-line, and then the right gear began to settle. When I got back to the shop (R. W. Martin Aviation) I told them maybe they needed to check the pressure in the struts :). Louie asked to take it to the Airshow in Casa Grande. The had Snoopy laying on his dog house and guys would fly by and drop flour bags, bombing Snoopy. I came in at 500' - went to full flaps - engine idle - and made a 90º dive - and was straight and level doing 85 kts at 50' :D. I took home to Louie the trophy for Best Warbird. I made a couple of landing at Palomar with zero rollout when the wind was at 25 kts. I had my cousin Tim with me going over, but he flew back with Ted Barker in my Navion - because of the following: It was fun to fly, but it has one proplem, every now and then the engine would quit for about 2 secs (startliing) and they never found out why it was doing that, at least while I was I was flying it...
Another hit Kermit. I truly do enjoy your Kermie Cam videos. Folks like myself don't live near an aircraft museum and even then would only get the chance to look at static aircraft sitting on the ground or in a hanger. These take us inside with a walk through of the aircraft. I really enjoy these. Thanks again.
Great video Mr. Weeks even landing at the RC field to give the ppl there a sight to see and something to talk about....."you remember that day when someone landed their airplane when we were flying out RC planes
Kermit, thank you so much for taking us along in a truly memorable flight. This aircraft is my all-time favorite. I am going to get my own storch. I have a 1/4 scale kit on the way and your video is so helpful for me to add the fine details to make my rc as realistic as possible. I am inspired by the folding wings and the details that go with them.
Visited you 15-20 years ago from the UK and watched the storch fly. There was a bit of wind and the pilot held it almost stationary in mid air. Great stuff. Flew the corsair simulator too. Best day of our holiday. Thanks for posting the video 👍
Great videos on flying the Storch, thanks that was great! I really appreciated seeing the slow flight and the short field landing and take off. Awesome! As you were touching down at the end I had this sense we were flying about at hang-glider speed. It reminded me of a hang-glider landing. That's a beautiful aircraft.
Ah man thats great Kerm! That made my day when you landed at the RC field, I fly every day I can at our local model club. I love the Stearman easter egg in video. The Storch is incredible.
