The Greatest Fighter Pilot of WWII... Finalized....

[Erich]

personally I can think of several friend/night fighter aces that were just as good but in engaging in a more complex and possibly dynamic way of fighting.

As I mentioned earlier today a total score no matter how high does not mean you are the best. In fact it must be regarded as who is ? probably cannot really be put in words. all the aces on the list via the first page deserve their recognition in the service of their country

 

[lesofprimus]

Erich, I agree with u on the Nightfighters, some of them were truly excellent pilots...

But this is about fighter pilots, and sneaking up on an unsuspecting Lancaster at 1 o'clock in the morning isnt really about being a fighter pilot, just being an unbelieveable pilot...

I dunno, reading about Schnaufer and his victories is truly a testament to the outstanding qualities of certain Nightfighter pilots, but to compare that to what Bar did in all the theatres that he operated in is like comparing Kiwi Fruit to Irish Soda Bread...

It all comes down to personal choice, and I dont think Hartmann and his target rich enviornment really proved all that much other than that there were alot of Russian fighters in the air....

 

[Erich]

Les many of the nf's were first ZG FIGHTER PILOTS, and if you think about that come late war yes indeed there were combats with Mossies, Beaus and P-61's; turns circles, corkscrews and BLAM, someone has to fall or limp home hurt quite possibly with dead aboard. some of the nf cranked up hundreds of missions on both the western and eastern fronts, and then of all things, something that the day fighter boys did not have to do, but the nf's had to perform day time ground attack duties in slow moving twin engine fighters equipped with bombs knowing full well they could be taken out by Allied escorts, ground based Allied AA. compare that insanity with the German/US/RAF/or Soviet day fighters whom never had to perform stupid acts of flying night ground attack or evening missions. Obviously you can see the superior well roundedness of the nf individuals many of them coming from KG bomber gruppen flying day/night missions, outnumbered with horrid fighters flying overhead.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Shouldnt one way of determing who was the best among the aces is to compare their kill rate per sortie where combat occured?

I disagree because as Erich said maybe they were in just a target rich environment. You also have to look at the skill of the pilots they were flying against. I believe it comes down to skill and in my opinion that goes to Heinz Bar like Les said. The man was a great pilot.

 

[Hunter368]

Ok here is my thoughts on it.

Galland-Great leader pilot, all his kills in the west (104) including 7 in the ME 262. Not bad

Molders-Another great leader pilot, 115 kills total (33 in the east), a real innovator in tactics and a inspiration to his men.

Hartmann-A real inspiration to his men, started later in the war when Russian pilots were not so easy to kill, never lost a wing-man. He has real situational awareness in battle to never to lose a wing-man. More kills than anyone else 352 kills all in the east. A real hunter in the skies.

Heinz Baer-220 kills (79 kills in east, rest in the west) He served in France, BoB, East, North Africa, Mediterranean, Western fronts. Alot of pilots excelled on one front and when transferred to another front they had trouble, he never suffered that problem, he excelled on every front. Shot down 16 4 engine bombers, 16 with ME262. This man went from start to finish and did it all on all fronts. He was shot down 18 times during the war.

Erich Rudorffer-222 kills (136 kills in the east, rest in the west only slightly less in the west than Baer) He served in North Africa, France, BoB, Western fronts. Like Baer alot of pilots excelled on one front and when transferred to another front they had trouble, he never suffered that problem, he excelled on every front. Shot down 10 4 engine bombers, 12 with the ME262. This man started in 1940 and when to the end and did it all on all fronts. He was shot down 16 times during the war.

Who is the greatest in my mind? Difficult choice but I think it comes down to two....Baer and Rudorffer in my mind. The others are great also but I think it is almost a tie between Baer and Rudorffer their careers almost mirror each other, kills on each front almost exactly the same. In the end I have to call the greatest ever would be Baer by a hair over Rudorffer.

 

[kiwimac]

Hartmann for me.

Kiwimac

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I go for Baer and Hartmann, allways have and allways will. Hartmann being my favorite and Baer being the best in my opinoin and second favorite. Good annalysis up there also Hunter.

 

[Hunter368]

I go for Baer and Hartmann, allways have and allways will. Hartmann being my favorite and Baer being the best in my opinoin and second favorite. Good annalysis up there also Hunter.

Thanks, Baer and Rudorffer are basically close to a tie but I have to give it to Baer for a few small reasons.

1) Baer missed action on two different times (for a prolonged time) due to injuries. So he still amassed the totals that he did with missing time.
2) Baer started in 1939, Rudorffer in 1940, both lasted until wars end. So Baer was a true first to last and survived longer. (by a hair true)
3)Baer shot down 16 4 engine bombers to Rudorffer's 10 4 engine bombers. Charging into those bombers must of been like charging into the gates of hell.
4)Baer shot down 16 planes in the ME262 compared to Rudorffer's 12 kills. Baer's 16 kills in the ME262 made him the leading jet ace in WW2 and also until 1973 the leading jet ace of all nations.

Thats why I name Baer best ace of all time.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

My personal top are:

1. Hartmann
2. Baer
3. Nowotney
4. Galland

Baer for though is the over all fighter pilot of the war.

 

[Hunter368]

My personal top are:

1. Hartmann
2. Baer
3. Nowotney
4. Galland

Baer for though is the over all fighter pilot of the war.

Very good pics also.

 

[CurzonDax]

My question is this, without again sound pro-US, but its a question I have always had since a child. Why does everyone seem to forget the US aces. While I did vote for Hartmann, my fav Luftwaffe ace, is that US aces are not as romantic or didn't shoot down a million planes. I hope I don't sound pissy, cause I am not, its just I have been curious since a child.

My top 10 in no particuar order:
1. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
2. Chuck Yeager
3. Hubert Zemke
4. Francis "Gabby" Gabresky
5. Tommy Blackburn
6. Tex Hill
7. Bud Mahurin
8. George Welch
9. Joe Foss
10. Butch O'Hare

:{)

 

[lesofprimus]

Baer's 16 kills in the ME262 made him the leading jet ace in WW2 and also until 1973 the leading jet ace of all nations.

If I'm not mistaken, there were a couple of Russians and 1 American in Korea that scored 16 or more kills in Korea.... Joseph McConnell had 16 kills by 5/18/1953, with the Top Scorers being Evgeni Pepelyaev and Nick Sutyagin with 23 kills....

And once again for the record, Heinz Baer in my book is just about unmatched in this catagory....

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

My question is this, without again sound pro-US, but its a question I have always had since a child. Why does everyone seem to forget the US aces. While I did vote for Hartmann, my fav Luftwaffe ace, is that US aces are not as romantic or didn't shoot down a million planes. I hope I don't sound pissy, cause I am not, its just I have been curious since a child.

My top 10 in no particuar order:
1. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
2. Chuck Yeager
3. Hubert Zemke
4. Francis "Gabby" Gabresky
5. Tommy Blackburn
6. Tex Hill
7. Bud Mahurin
8. George Welch
9. Joe Foss
10. Butch O'Hare

:{)

No there plenty of great american fighter pilots. I happen to really like Pappy Boyington. He is my favorite American Ace. The only reason that I really go for the Luftwaffe aces is because they did what they did at increadable odds.

 

[evangilder]

My question is this, without again sound pro-US, but its a question I have always had since a child. Why does everyone seem to forget the US aces. While I did vote for Hartmann, my fav Luftwaffe ace, is that US aces are not as romantic or didn't shoot down a million planes. I hope I don't sound pissy, cause I am not, its just I have been curious since a child.

My top 10 in no particuar order:
1. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
2. Chuck Yeager
3. Hubert Zemke
4. Francis "Gabby" Gabresky
5. Tommy Blackburn
6. Tex Hill
7. Bud Mahurin
8. George Welch
9. Joe Foss
10. Butch O'Hare

:{)

Interesting list, but I find it curious that Dick Bong and Tom McGuire are not on that list.

 

[CurzonDax]

Interesting list, but I find it curious that Dick Bong and Tom McGuire are not on that list.[/quote]

The reason why they are not there, and this list dates back to my childhood, I thought thier exploits were boring. As an adult I admire them but they are not my fav. To me, and to a certain point that is still true today, they are just pilots, they did not seem to have the charisma that the others had. I mean Pappy had a terrible but addictive series done about him, Yeager broke the sound barrier, Tex was a Flying Tiger, Gabby fought in the Spanish Civil War, etc, etc, etc. Bong and McGuire to me were boring.

:{)

 

[cheddar cheese]

I wouldnt call McGuire boring...


And why does everyone forget the Italian aces? (No prizes for any jokes saying "cos they didnt have any" )

 

[CurzonDax]

No there plenty of great american fighter pilots. I happen to really like Pappy Boyington. He is my favorite American Ace. The only reason that I really go for the Luftwaffe aces is because they did what they did at increadable odds.[/quote]

I understand all of this. But when I was growing up the only ace that was famous was Pappy because of his infamous series, maybe Yeager and many forget he was an ace in a day. You only seemed to hear about Galland, Hartmann, Johnson, Bader, etc, etc, etc. The first time I ever read about American aces was in Gene Gurney's Five Down and Glory. It was years before I saw other books and these were the Hammel books. I guess, because when I was growing up, the major WWII documentary was The World at War, which had a more Euro slant and so were many of the books at the time. I still have to thank Bantam and thier WWII series for saving my historical mind. Even today it seems that US aces are still in the wings, exept for Pappy or Yeager.

:{)

 

[evangilder]

Having spent a good chunk of my growing up years in Wisconsin, I got to hear plenty about Richard Bong. There was even an Air Force base in Wisconsin named after him. It was long since closed though.

 

[CurzonDax]

I wouldnt call McGuire boring...

I know this now, but its one of those things that he didn't intrest me back then so he is sort of low on my radar.

And why does everyone forget the Italian aces? (No prizes for any jokes saying "cos they didnt have any" )

Hell yes! I thought the Italians, especially those that fought in North Africa in Fiat and Cr.-planes were the bomb. The tri-color over the desert. In fact the last Bi-plane to bi-plane fight was won by a Italian in Cr. 42Something about thier panache made them great. The top scorer was Capitano Franco Lucchini. His unit 4 Stormo, 90a Sq. shot down almost 600 aircraft and had 32 aces. He had 26 (five in the Spanish Civil War)victories and 52 shared ones. If y'all want to see his record go to http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/lucchini/lucchini.htm

Thats him on the plane :{)

 

[CurzonDax]

Having spent a good chunk of my growing up years in Wisconsin, I got to hear plenty about Richard Bong. There was even an Air Force base in Wisconsin named after him. It was long since closed though.

I guess growing up in PR, I got a more Euro slant on the war, until I got to high school.

:{)