NZFF

Departure: Col du Béal (LFJO) – a sloped mountain strip west of Lyon.
Cruise: Descended slowly to 3,500 ft, following the valley south – probably the Rhône.
Intended Destination: Le Fare (LFNR), but conditions were too rough.

Landing: Diverted to Salon Air Base (LFMY), home of the Patrouille de France.

The wind at LFMY was reported at 330 degrees, 50 km/h – far too much for a featherweight aircraft like the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch.
Even with the engine at idle, the wind pushed the plane forward during taxiing.

And then it got worse:
A strong gust caught the high wing, lifted the tail, and nearly flipped the aircraft – straight toward parked Alpha Jets on the tarmac.

Departure: Col du Béal (LFJO) – a sloped mountain strip west of Lyon.
Cruise: Descended slowly to 3,500 ft, following the valley south – probably the Rhône.
Intended Destination: Le Fare (LFNR), but conditions were too rough.

Landing: Diverted to Salon Air Base (LFMY), home of the Patrouille de France.

The wind at LFMY was reported at 330 degrees, 50 km/h – far too much for a featherweight aircraft like the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch.
Even with the engine at idle, the wind pushed the plane forward during taxiing.

And then it got worse:
A strong gust caught the high wing, lifted the tail, and nearly flipped the aircraft – straight toward parked Alpha Jets on the tarmac.

























Lesson Learned:
On the ground, the Storch is dangerously vulnerable to wind.
In real life, ground crews used to tie down the tail and load the plane heavily to keep it from being blown over at night.

In the sim? Same thing.
Set the CG aft, add some weight – or risk getting cartwheeled into military hardware.

Well, you can't have your cake and eat it!

As a child, I remember asking my father: Dad, why's that little aeroplane flying backwards?
And indeed, it was a homebuilt that had climbed into some headwinds maybe 2kt better than top speed.
After many minutes of essentially hovering in the sky, he turned tail and presumably found somewhere to hide.

Hello Carl,
Thank you for your recollection of that classic Storch experience. You’re absolutely right—light aircraft like these can quickly reach their limits in headwinds, and I must admit I somewhat underestimated the wind when planning my flight.
I suppose it’s part of the process to accept such challenges and learn from them.
Regardless of that particular flight, I really like this aircraft with all its quirks, and I’m glad to have discovered it through this forum rather than missed out on it.
Best regards from Potsdam,
Andreas

Glad you survived , great post

There are moments when you say to yourself... don't panic... you sit behind your desk and drink coffee... Grin.