Austar’s Fieseler Storch

I needed another back-up for Scale events as my well-worn 84” Spacewalker was getting a bit shy in lifting her skirts in performing set maneuvers.

Going over to Austar’s premises at Prestons near Liverpool, I came away with the Fieseler Storch ARF for engines from 20-26cc. This STOL aircraft became quite famous in WW11 as a reconnaissance aircraft as well as rescuing Mussolini from his castle when the Allies were closing in. At first glance it’s an ugly looking machine with its forward pointing undercarriage, large tail and long nose. However, after a time, she becomes quite beautiful as the build progresses.

The Storch is a high wing tail dragger, single engine, 96” span aircraft and I elected to power her with the 26cc Turnigy petrol two stroke.

Opening the sturdy cardboard box from Austar, I was disappointed to find scant, meager build directions, flimsy formers and some quite shoddy hardware. One of the wing tubes was missing and the covering, although drab olive, was bright and shiny. With a wipe of that wonder primer ESP followed by a spray of matt Estapol (courtesy of Doug Radford), our Storch now looked like a military aircraft.

I was warned this was one tail heavy machine and NOT to put the dual elevator servos down near the tail (as per directions) as this only exacerbated the problem. Little did I know it would eventually need nearly 2kg of lead up the sharp end!!

A non-standard leaf-spring tailwheel assembly aided steering and would take the bumps out of our grass field. 5 x standard Futaba 3001’s powered the throttle, ailerons and flaps. 3 x Hi-Tec 645MG servos worked the pull-pull rudder and split elevator. With the addition of an extra servo tray, the elevator servos were secured in the cockpit area with dowels and 440 wires transferring the drive to the horizontal flying surfaces. Other than that the build was fairly straight forward.

Inside the cockpit, the bare white wood stood out like the proverbial “dogs” so a coat of drab was given to dull down the interior. To encourage forward CG, both ignition and flight batteries were installed hard up against the firewall as was the CDI unit. Fuel tank was cable tied inside the cockpit - forward of the CG. A choke extension rod was mounted on a bell crank that exited under the aircraft. There was nowhere to install switches so, with the addition of ply and balsa (with the kind help of Barry Campbell); a patch was fashioned on the port side to accommodate the dual switches.

Ignoring the supplied piddley screws, I used large wood screws to anchor the undercarriage as well as the support struts. Even this was not enough. A hard landing broke the U/C so it was glued back with support timber and the whole lot fibreglassed from the inside (Thanks Grant!!). The kits stiff, no-give U/C needs oleos which I will fit in due course.

To finish off (to avoid bounce), 4” Cub inflatable tyres replaced the hard rubber kit wheels.

Instruction sheet stated the CG was between 85-95mm from the leading edge. To accomplish at 95cm, 1.1kg of lead had to be added to the firewall to get her to balance. She was now ready for the maiden.

It was a clear day with a steady wind from the sea. After hours of fiddling to try (unsuccessfully) to get the engine to fully rev out, Tom Sparkes gave her throttle and she did a three point take off.

Her bum hung noticeably and Tom had to fight to keep control. Then – shock – horror. Over the western end of the field she just kept turning, entering into a right-hand, downward pointing barrel roll. Onlookers scattered at breakneck speed as the big German monoplane came hurtling towards them. Skillfully our ex-CFI pulled her out with just meters to spare.

Shaking like a jelly, Tom landed the Storch, sat down, wiped his brow and commented this was one very sick aeroplane. Heaps more weight was needed in the nose!!!

I took her home and wondered why this baby was so tail-weighty. Another half a kilo of lead was attached to the engine stand-offs with cable ties and wood screws. This brought the CG back to around 82cm (never trust the instructions) from the leading edge. I was now worried about all the weight (1.6kg of lead plus 890gms of engine) hanging off the firewall.

A few days later at the field, Tom Sparkes checked engine timing to see if top end performance could be improved. It was factory pre-set at 45 degrees BTDC. No wonder it ran rough. Adjusted to 28 degrees BTDC, the engine revved out fine and there were plenty of herbs in reserve.

Tom again took the controls and the Storch, with all the extra nose weight now raised her tail, ran on the mains and lifted gracefully into the air. After a few circuits, she came in for a spotless landing. Tom commented she was a different aeroplane, behaving like a puppy dog. My main problem was how to integrate all that temporary lead into the aircraft.

After plenty of discussion, Tom Sparkes kindly machined up four heavy and longer solid brass stand-offs as well as a brass spinner nut to replace the lightweight aluminium hardware. With the aid of Barry Campbell’s artistic eye, a thicker 5/16” plywood firewall was cut and glued onto the original. I lavished a heap of chopped fiberglass cloth and resin into the front of the aircraft to add both strength and weight to the firewall.

With all this extra weight and the engine sitting around 30mm further forward, I STILL had to fiberglass in another 130gms of lead into the cowl. She now balanced at 82cm.

A week later all was ready and it was my turn to fly the lady. After a few deep breaths I slid forward the go lever and the Storch ceremoniously lifted her tail, ran for a few meters then majestically climbed out. I ran my tongue round a very dry mouth. After a few completed circuits my breathing returned to near normal. She floated in wonderfully on finals with the aid of a little flap and gently touched down. After taxiing back to the pits and hitting the kill switch, I wiped the moisture from the transmitter then my hands. At long last, I now owned a very gracious and polite scale model which will now (hopefully!?) continue to eat out of my hand.

I would like to sincerely thank Tom Sparkes, Grant Furzer, Doug Radford, Ron Clark and Barry Campbell for their invaluable help in this project.

Col