Slepcev Storch

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Slepcev Storch
Slepcev Storch HB-YKQ OTT 2013 02.jpg
Slepcev Storch registered in Switzerland
Role Type-certified, kit and ultralight STOL aircraft
National origin Australia, Serbia
Manufacturer

Designer
First flight 1994
Status In production (2015)
Developed from Fieseler Fi 156 Storch

The Slepcev Storch (English: Stork) is a Serbian type-certified, kit and ultralight STOL aircraft, designed by Yugoslavian-Australian and currently produced by in several different versions. The ultralight version is a 3/4 scale replica of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch of the Second World War and is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.[1][2][3][4]

Design and development[]

The aircraft was first flown in 1994. It was originally manufactured by Slepcev's company, of Beechwood, New South Wales, Australia. The company was later renamed . The aircraft was type-certified in 1999 to the Joint Airworthiness Requirements - Very Light Aircraft (JAR-VLA) standard,[5] with contributions from aeronautical engineer C. W. "Bill" Whitney.[6] Production then moved to Serbia where a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category model was developed.[1][3][7]

Like the original Fi 156, the Slepcev Storch features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-tandem enclosed cockpit, with extensive glazing, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration. It is made from welded steel tubing with its flying surfaces fashioned from sheet aluminium and covered in doped aircraft fabric. The ultralight version has a 10 m (32.8 ft) span wing with an area of 15 m2 (160 sq ft), large flaps and leading edge slots. The wings are supported by V-struts and jury struts. Engines fitted vary by model.[1][3]

Operational history[]

Slepcev Storch

The designer has a keen interest in Second World War history and wanted to use an example of his Storch design to re-enact the 12 September 1943 rescue of Benito Mussolini by Otto Skorzeny and his SS commandos from his imprisonment by Italian Carabinieri guards on the Gran Sasso mountain.[8] It took Slepcev a year to gain Italian approvals for the flight and on 24 August 1996, he landed a Storch Mk 4 at the site, 53 years after the original dramatic rescue had taken place.[4]

Variants[]

Storch/Storch Mk 4
Homebuilt kit version, powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS or 115 hp (86 kW) Rotax 914, with a gross weight of 550 kg (1,213 lb). Certification includes Australian and Spanish JAR-VLA. Available as a kit or as ready-to-fly.[1][3][2][7][9]
Storch Microlight
FAI compliant microlight 3/4 sized version, powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS, with a gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb). Available as a kit or as ready-to-fly.[1][3][10][11]
Super Storch
Full scale homebuilt kit version, powered by a 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming O-360, with a gross weight of 862 kg (1,900 lb). Available as a kit only.[1][3][12]
Storch Moose
Full scale homebuilt kit version, powered by a 360 hp (268 kW) Vedeneyev M14P, with a gross weight of 1,500 kg (3,307 lb). Available as a kit only.[1][3][13]

Specifications (Microlight)[]

Data from Bayerl and Tacke[1][3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Capacity: one passenger
  • Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 15 m2 (160 sq ft)
  • Gross weight: 450 kg (992 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 40 litres (8.8 imp gal; 11 US gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 912ULS four cylinder, liquid and air-cooled, four stroke aircraft engine, 75 kW (101 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph, 81 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 133 km/h (83 mph, 72 kn)
  • Stall speed: 40 km/h (25 mph, 22 kn)
  • Rate of climb: 6 m/s (1,200 ft/min)

See also[]

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, pages 77 and 121. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  2. ^ a b Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, page 162. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 128. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN 1368-485X
  4. ^ a b "Storch Aviation Serbia - About Storch Aviation". Slepcevstorch.com. 24 August 1996. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  5. ^ Australian Type Certificate for the Slepcev Storch (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) Retrieved 2012-09-07
  6. ^ Macel, Arthur (September 2013). "Bill Whitney, Spirit of St Louis" (PDF). Sport Pilot. 27 (9): 20–21.
  7. ^ a b Downey, Julia: 1999 Kit Aircraft Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 68. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851
  8. ^ Annussek, Greg (2005). Hitler's Raid to Save Mussolini Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81396-2
  9. ^ "Storch Aircraft Serbia - Slepcev Storch MK4". Slepcevstorch.com. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Storch Aircraft Serbia - Slepcev Storch Microlight". Slepcevstorch.com. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  11. ^ Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 81. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN 1368-485X
  12. ^ "Storch Aircraft Serbia - Slepcev Super Storch". Slepcevstorch.com. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Storch Aircraft Serbia - Slepcev Storch Moose". Slepcevstorch.com. Retrieved 6 September 2012.

External links[]

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