FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Again you forgot the Top fw 190 ace Kittel in your list !
But its always very difficult to value who was the best pilot ( ok you can count the kills, thats easy ), but maybe a good pilot is a B-17 pilot who brought his flak crippled aircraft back, or the young german fighter pilot at the end of the war with lack of training who started with no chance of return.
Or the pilots of the 332nd FG who fought a war against 2 enemies.
I think its ok to make a poll about the aces, but we shouldnt forget the unnumbered pilots; they fulfilled their duties like the aces, too.
greets
Thomas
I think if you look some of the older post and threads recognition has been given to bomber and fighter pilots alike and it is also recognized that during WW2 air-to-air combat and dropping bombs was just one aspect of aerial warfare. Patrol, logistics, and my personal favorite, flying through the "soup" could all be just as hazardous (or even more) than dropping bombs and/ or shooting or getting shot at air-to-air.
Personally I think it's just as hazardous to shoot an old NDB beam approach and breaking out of the overcast at 300' than it is flying through flack or getting bounced by a gaggle of -109s.