Newsgroups: rec.aviation.military
\nFrom: bowers@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Al Bowers)
\nSubject: Re: Best fighterpilot ?!?!
\nMessage-ID:
\nOrganization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal.
\nDate: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:20:48 GMT
\nLines: 376<\/p>\n
skronkvi@aton.abo.fi (Stefan Kronkvist INF) writes:<\/p>\n
I think you have misconstrued some facts, and I also have my own
\nnomination for greatest fighter pilot of all time…<\/p>\n
> ===============================
\n> Most successful fighter pilot
\n> of all times ?!?!
\n> ===============================<\/p>\n
>Who is the most successful fighterpilot in the history? The answer may be
\n>different depending on who you are asking.<\/p>\n
>The germans on the other hand also counted planes destroyed on the ground.
\n>And when a german pilot shot down a 4-engine plane,he was allowed to count one
\n>”victory”\/engine.<\/p>\n
This was untrue in WWII (the Luftwaffe). Confirmation was required to
\nbe provided by a witness seeing the aircraft _crash_. No confirmation
\nresulted in a probable (despite the aircraft being on fire, spiralling
\ndown out of control a wing coming off, whatever). Probables were not
\ncounted in total tallies. For more info, read “Top Secret Bird” by
\nWolfgang Spaate. Spaate finished the war with 99 official victories,
\nthough his unofficial tally was about 122, and another dozen or so
\nprobables. This is not to say there were no abuses, as Spaate points
\nout in his book.<\/p>\n
>Wind is less known than Jonny Johnson (38 planes),Richard Bong (40) and
\n>Pierre Clostermann (33).<\/p>\n
See the list below.<\/p>\n
>Manfred von Richthofen shot down 80 enemy-planes,according to the Guiness book
\n>of Records,but 20 of theese are unconfirmed…<\/p>\n
Not quite. Richtofen had 80 _confirmed_ kills, with 20 probables.<\/p>\n
My personal nomination goes probably to Erich `Bubi’ Hartmann (352
\nkills, WWII Luftwaffe), or possibly to Saburo Sakai (never lost a
\nwingman in 64 kills, and the Japanese used `vics’, a three plane
\nelement).<\/p>\n
This is a little list that I have been compiling for a year or two
\nnow. I’m sure it is not complete, but is presented here for info.
\nIf you know of someone who _should_ be on this list, please e-mail me
\n(with a reference if you have it). Note that I only include people
\nwho qualify for the title “ace” as used by the US (5 confirmed aerial
\nvictories, ground kills not counted).<\/p>\n
And I expect some of the numbers to generate some controversy
\n(especially the WWII Luftwaffe numbers), but the numbers are accurate
\nso far as I can tell (references available).<\/p>\n
Also, there are numerous Israeli aces, but their country considers that
\ninfo classified (with some justification), and I am also aware that
\nsome Pakistani pilots are aces as well (Afghanistan war), but I cannot
\nfind the info. One last piece of information, no one became an ace
\ninvolved with the Falklands Islands war or the Gulf war that I am
\naware of (I have a complete list of _all_ aerial kills in the Vietnam
\nwar by the US and _all_ victories on both sides in the Gulf war).<\/p>\n
Note that the greatest jet ace is a tie between James McConnell
\n(Korea, F-86) and Heinrich Bar (WWII, Me 262) each with 16. Honorable
\nmention to James Jabara (Korea, F-86) with 15 _jet_ kills and possibly
\nto Col. Toon of Vietnam (with 17?). And note that there are two women
\non the list, Lily Litvak, and Katya Budanova (USSR, WWI).<\/p>\n
name victories war country
\n===========================================================================
\nManfred von Richtofen 80 WWI Germany
\nErnst Udet 62 WWI Germany
\nJosef Jacobs 48 WWI Germany
\nWerner Voss 48 WWI Germany
\nOswald Boelcke 40 WWI Germany
\nLothar von Richtofen 40 WWI Germany
\nCarl Degelow 30 WWI Germany
\nHerman Goering 22 WWI Germany
\nHans Pippart 22 WWI Germany
\nMax Immelmann 15 WWI Germany
\nPaul Strahle 13 WWI Germany
\nGustav Leffer 9 WWI Germany
\nWolfram von Richtofen 8 WWI Germany<\/p>\n
Rene Fonck 75 WWI France
\nGeorges Guynmeyer 58 WWI France
\nCharles Nungesser 45 WWI France
\nGeorges Madon 41 WWI France
\nMaurice Boyeau 35 WWI France
\nRoland Garros 5 WWI France<\/p>\n
Philip F. Fullard 53 WWI Great Britain
\nAlbert Ball 47 WWI Great Britain
\nIra Jones 40 WWI Great Britain
\nHenry Woollett 36 WWI Great Britain
\nRhys-David 23 WWI Great Britain
\nGerald Maxwell 21 WWI Great Britain
\nLanoe Hawker 9 WWI Great Britain
\nJ. R. Trollope 6 WWI Great Britain
\nSholto Douglas 6 WWI Great Britain<\/p>\n
William Bishop 72 WWI Canada
\nRaymond Collishaw 62 WWI Canada
\nDonald McLaren 54 WWI Canada
\nWilliam Barker 52 WWI Canada
\nRoy Brown 13 WWI Canada<\/p>\n
Edward Mannock 73 WWI Ireland
\nJames McCudden 57 WWI Ireland<\/p>\n
A. Beauchamp-Proctor 54 WWI South Africa<\/p>\n
Willy Coppens 34 WWI Belgium<\/p>\n
Edward Rickenbacker 26 WWI United States
\nFredrick Libby 24 WWI United States
\nFrank Luke 21 WWI United States
\nRaoul Lufbery 17 WWI United States<\/p>\n
Francesco Barraca 36 WWI Italy<\/p>\n
Alexander Kazakov 17 WWI Russia
\nAlexander de Seversky 13 WWI Russia<\/p>\n
===========================================================================
\nErich Hartmann 352 WWII Germany
\nGerhard Barkorn 301 WWII Germany
\nGuenther Rall 275 WWII Germany
\nOtto Kittel 267 WWII Germany
\nWalter Nowotny 258 WWII Germany
\nWilhelm Batz 237 WWII Germany
\nErich Rudorffer 222 WWII Germany
\nHeinrich Bar 220 WWII Germany
\nHerrmann Graf 211 WWII Germany
\nTheodore Weissenburger 208 WWII Germany
\nHans Philip 206 WWII Germany
\nWalter Schuck 206 WWII Germany
\nAnton Hafner 204 WWII Germany
\nHeinrich Ehler 204 WWII Germany
\nHelmut Lipfert 203 WWII Germany
\nWalter Kuprinski 197 WWII Germany
\nAnton Hackl 190 WWII Germany
\nMax Stotz 189 WWII Germany
\nJoachim Brendel 189 WWII Germany
\nJoachim Kirschner 188 WWII Germany
\nKurt Hans Friedrich Brandle 180 WWII Germany
\nGunther Josten 178 WWII Germany
\nJohannes Steinhoff 176 WWII Germany
\nErnst Wilhelm Reinert 174 WWII Germany
\nGunther Schack 174 WWII Germany
\nHeinz Schmidt 173 WWII Germany
\nEmil Lang 173 WWII Germany
\nHorst Adameit 166 WWII Germany
\nWolf-Dietrich Wilke 162 WWII Germany
\nHan-Joachim Marseille 158 WWII Germany
\nHeinrich Sturm 158 WWII Germany
\nGerhard Tyben 157 WWII Germany
\nHans Beiswenger 152 WWII Germany
\nPeter Duttmann 152 WWII Germany
\nGordon Gollob 150 WWII Germany
\nDietrich Hrabak 125 WWII Germany
\nHeinz Schnaufer 121 WWII Germany
\nWerner Moelders 115 WWII Germany
\nAdolf Galland 104 WWII Germany
\nHartmann Grasser 103 WWII Germany
\nWerner Streib 60 WWII Germany<\/p>\n
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa 113 WWII Japan
\nOta 80? WWII Japan
\nSaburo Sakai 64 WWII Japan
\nSasai 60? WWII Japan
\nAkamatsu 50? WWII Japan<\/p>\n
Hasse Wind 75 WWII Finland<\/p>\n
Ivan Kozuhedub 62 WWII USSR
\nAleksandr Pokryshkin 59 WWII USSR
\nAlelyukin 40 WWII USSR
\nVladmir Lavrinenkov 35 WWII USSR
\nAleksandr Klubov 31 WWII USSR
\nBoris F. Safnov 22 WWII USSR
\nStepan Suprun 15 WWII USSR
\nLily Litvak 7 WWII USSR
\nKatya Budanova 6 WWII USSR<\/p>\n
Joaquin Garcia Morato 40 WWII Spain(Na)
\nJulio Salvador 24 WWII Spain(Fr)
\nAndres Garcia La Calle 21 WWII Spain(Na)
\nAngel Salas 17 WWII Spain(Na)
\nManuel Aguirre Lopez 16 WWII Spain(Fr)<\/p>\n
Richard Bong 40 WWII United States
\nThomas McGuire 38 WWII United States
\nEugene Valencia 35 WWII United States
\nFrancis Gabreski 34.5 WWII United States
\nDavid McCampbell 34 WWII United States
\nGregory Boyington 28 WWII United States
\nGeorge Preddy 26.9 WWII United States
\nJoe Foss 26 WWII United States
\nCecil E. Harris 24 WWII United States
\nGerald Johnson 22 WWII United States
\nKen Walsh 21 WWII United States
\nThomas Lynch 20 WWII United States
\nDon Gentile 19.8(27) WWII United States
\nJohn Smith 19 WWII United States
\nMarion Carl 16 WWII United States
\nWilliam Dunham 16 WWII United States
\nDon Blakeslee 15 WWII United States
\nRobin Galer 13 WWII United States
\nRobin Olds 13 WWII United States
\nJames French 11 WWII United States
\nHarrison Thyng 11 WWII United States
\nRobert Scott 10 WWII United States
\nClinton Smith 10 WWII United States
\nAlbert G. Baumer 8 WWII United States
\nFrank G. Tinker 8 WWII United States
\nHarris Mitchell 6 WWII United States
\nJohn Mitchell 6 WWII United States
\nHarold Dahl 5 WWII United States
\nCharles King 5 WWII United States
\nTom Lanphier 5 WWII United States
\nOscar Perdomo 5 WWII United States
\nRobert Johnson<\/p>\n
James “Johnnie” Johnson 38 WWII Great Britain
\nMarmaduke Pattle 34 WWII Great Britain
\nRobert Stanford Tuck 30 WWII Great Britain
\nRobert Braham 29 WWII Great Britain
\nAlan Deere 22.5 WWII Great Britain
\nDouglas Bader 22 WWII Great Britain
\nJohn Godfrey 16.3(18) WWII Great Britain
\nReade Tilley 7 WWII Great Britain<\/p>\n
Clyde Caldwell 28.5 WWII Australia
\n“Bluie” Truscott<\/p>\n
Stanislaus Skalski 19 WWII Poland<\/p>\n
Adolf Gysbert Malan 18 WWII South Africa<\/p>\n
Le Nigen 12 WWII France(Vi)
\nAbel Guides 10 WWII France(Fr)<\/p>\n
===========================================================================
\nJoseph Campbell 16 Korea United States
\nJames Jabara 15(16.5) Korea United States
\nFredrick Blesse 10 Korea United States
\nRobin Olds 4(16) Korea United States<\/p>\n
===========================================================================
\nCharles DeBellvue 6* Vietnam United States
\nRandy Cunningham 5 Vietnam United States
\nWilliam Driscoll 5* Vietnam United States
\nRichard Ritchie 5 Vietnam United States
\nJeffery Feinstein 5* Vietnam United States
\nRobin Olds 4(20) Vietnam United States<\/p>\n
Toon (Tomb?) 17 Vietnam Vietnam<\/p>\n
American Aces<\/p>\n
WWI
\n==============<\/p>\n
Paul F. Baer 9
\nHilbert L. Blair 5
\nFrank L. Baylies 12
\nJames D. Beane 6
\nLouis B. Bennett 12
\nCharles L. Biddle 7
\nClayton L. Bissell 5
\nArthur R. Brooks 6
\nHarold R. Buckley 5
\nHoward R. Burdick 7
\nLawrence K. Calahan 5
\nDouglas Campbell 6
\nThomas G. Cassady 9
\nReed M. Chambers 7
\nHenry R. Clay 8
\nJames A. Connelly 8
\nEverett R. Cook 5
\nH. Weir Cook 7
\nHamilton Coolidge 8
\nJesse O. Creech 8
\nEdward P. Curtis 6
\nCharles R. D’Olive 5
\nJohn Owen Donaldson 8
\nWilliam P. Erwin 8
\nGeroge W. Furlow 5
\nHarold H. George 5
\nFrederick W. Gillette 20
\nCharles G. Gray 5
\nJohn S. Griffith 9
\nMurray K. Guthrie 6
\nEdward M. Haight 5
\nFrank L. Hale 18
\nJames Norman Hall 6
\nLloyd A. Hamilton 9
\nHarold Evans Hartney 6
\nFrank K. Hayes 6
\nJames A. Healy 5
\nLansing C. Holden 7
\nDonald Hudson 6
\nJohn W. F. M. Huffer 7
\nFrank O. D. Hunter 8
\nPaul T. Iaccaci 18
\nThayer A. Iaccaci 11
\nDavid Sinton Ingalls 5
\nClinton Jones 8
\nJames A. Keating 6
\nField E. Kindley 12
\nHoward C. Knotts 6
\nJames Knowles 5
\nHarold A. Kullberg 16
\nDean I. Lamb 5
\nWilliam C. Lambert 22
\nReed G. Landis 10
\nG. DeFreest Larner 8
\nFredrick Libbey 14
\nRobert O. Lindsey 6
\nRaoul G. Lufbery 17
\nFredrick E. Luff 5
\nFrank Luke 18
\nFrancis P. Magoun 5
\nJohn J. Malone 20
\nAlexandre Matthews 5
\nJohn K. McArthur 6
\nDavid M. McClure 6
\nJames A. Meissner 8
\nEwart S. Miller 5
\nZenes R. Miller 5
\nRalph A. O’Neill 5
\nJ. Sidney Owens 5
\nW. J. Pace 5
\nEdwin C. Parsons 8
\nDavid M. Peterson 5
\nWilliam T. Ponder 6
\nKenneth L. Porter 6
\nNorman Prince 5
\nDavid E. Putnam 12
\nOrville A. Ralston 5
\nEdward V. Rickenbacker 26
\nE. M. Roberts 7
\nFrank A. Robertson 6
\nWendel A. Robertson 7
\nBogart Rogers 5
\nOren J. Rose 16
\nS. C. Rosevear 23
\nLeslie J. Rummel 7
\nKarl J. Schoen 7
\nJohn J. Seerley 5
\nSumner Sewall 7
\nElliot White Springs 12
\nMartinus Stenseth 6
\nVictor H. Strahm 5
\nJacques M. Swaab 10
\nWilliam Thaw 5
\nWilliam D. Tipton 5
\nEdgar G. Tobin 6
\nRobert M. Todd 5
\nJerry C. Vasconcells 6
\nGeorge A. Vaughn 13
\nCharles H. Veil 5
\nRemington D. B. Vernam 6
\nC. T. Warman 15
\nJoseph F. Wehner 5
\nF. Westing 5
\nWilbur W. White 8
\nAlan M. Wilkinson 19
\nRodney D. Williams 5
\nChester E. Wright 9
\n—
\nAl Bowers bowers@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov
\nNASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle, Lead Aero
\nNASA, Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California<\/p>\n
