[2] The Sh 14 engine was a venerable, tried-and-true design with low specific power output and low power/weight ratio (20.28 hp/L, 0.54 hp/lb) which could (anecdotally) run for up to 400 hours without major servicing, as opposed to the more powerful 27 litre displacement, nine-cylinder BMW/Bramo Fafnir 750 hp radial engine powering the larger Focke Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter, whose higher output (27.78 hp/L, 0.62 hp/lb), more modern design required moderate maintenance as often as every 25 hours (such as changing spark plugs, etc., well within the norm for modern radial engines of that era).

The German Navy was impressed with the Kolibri and wanted to evaluate it for submarine spotting duties, ordering an initial 15 examples, to be followed by 30 production models.

Flight testing of the first two prototypes was carried out through 1941, including repeated takeoffs and landings from a pad mounted on the German cruiser Köln.

[8] Good handling in bad weather led the German Air Ministry to issue a contract in 1944 to BMW to produce 1,000 units.

[9] Towards the end of World War II most of the surviving Fl 282s were stationed at Rangsdorf, in their role as artillery spotters, but gradually fell victim to Soviet fighters and anti-aircraft fire.