Vote in the Best Pilot Poll.

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My father, Armin Schaper, was a submarine bomber pilot during WWII, stationed with the Fleet Air Wing in England. He sadly died on 08-01-2006, but six months before his death, was awarded his wartime medals (two Distinguished Flying Cross medals, eleven Air Medals and one Conspicuous Service Cross medal) for his service, as he participated in the first nightime searchlight mission over the English Channel in total darkness. His plane was named, "Acbas," short for "Ace of the Base." His other nickname was "King of the Spitfires."

He was not only a great pilot, but a wonderful person.
 


Elizabeth, welcome to the forum and maybe you could post about your father in the 'Stories' section. Love to hear about him.
 
Elizabeth you better vote for your father .......... thumbs up

personally I have a few unknowns, not always considered for the best as they would not even be considered since there scores were not above 50 kills. funny these threads and polls just mentioned day fighter guys 99% of the time
 
Hi - new here and I don't know who the best pilot is, but just as a general question, do you all believe the numbers that the Luftwaffe pilots supposedly put up, Like Erich Hartmann's 352 kills? Considering how propaganda-driven the Third Reich was, I've always been a bit doubtful about these numbers. It seems to me that if they flew the number of sorties they would have had to to post these numbers, just the law of averages would have caught up with them and they would have been killed or crippled before they reached these totals. For example, I read where Marshall said in this thread that Hartmann was involved in 825 aerial combats - I know he was shot down and injured at times, but it still seems to me somewhat unlikely he would have survived that many combats. Even the best Japanese pilot only had 100 kills, if I remember correctly, and like the Nazis, the Japanese flew their pilots until they were killed (they didn't rotate them back like the Americans). Anybody else suspicious?
 

Where in the world did you hear this tale about the 332nd? The criteria you gave was the same criteria used by USAAF across all theatres and not solely for 332nd FG.
 

Not really. The Eastern Front was a target rich environment, and the Luftwaffe was pretty strict on reviewing claims and granting confirmed kills.

As to law of averages - it did catch up with most high scoring aces as most of them were victims also -

As to the Japanese pilots - the intensity and frequency of action in China and Pacific was not of the same scale in context of number of possible engagements.. on either side. Not to mention the fact that the relative performance of Japanese aircraft versus Allied a/c declined as the later model F4U and P-38 and F6F repleced the older fighters and the Japanese stuck to Zero upgrades plus Tony's and other a/c - so Allies frequently dictated combat from high speed and altitude advantages after 1942.

In USSR the LW fighters still exceeded the VVS fighters (in most cases) at medium to high altitude through the end of the war.
 
Best of WWII fighter pilots were Don Gentile and John Godfrey. Noted for their team work and that's what it's all about.

However, if longevity is scored high then you've got to give it to Brig. Gen. Robin Olds. WWII to Vietnam and then some. When he took command of his unit in Thailand with North Vietnam as their AO, he told he's young pilots, "ok, I'm the new guy and you're all pretty good, but in two weeks I will be the best in this outfit." Then he went out and became one of the few aces to come out of that war. And, he brought the others along with him in the process. Proving that self aggrandizement is a true principle as long as you bring others along with you.

Team work, something I didn't see scored in the former critiques, unless you consider "not loosing a wing man" as close.
 
It's a pity this ended so quick there are a few names that definitely should of appeared such as "Mickey" Martin .Dave Shannon. But then there seems to have neen a major ommision as always of recognising the skills involved in flying massive heavily laden aircraft into hostile skys. Moreover when these heavies were used as low level marker planes for larger forces. This seems to of been a unilateral decision however favoring those pilots who had ample opportunity to butcher inexperienced pilots in unfamiliar aircraft. Lets face it the only man on that list who flew in combat with no legs at all received no votes. What exactly do you mean by best pilot?
 
Thank you for proving the point There are many ways to consider a persons success as a pilot. I was unaware of either of the three gentelmen you mentioned Thanks.
 
I will say Joe Foss. He came along at a time early in the War when the US badly needed an aggressive, fighter leader. Joe Foss was that man. He flew a plane (Grumman F4F Wildcat) that was outperformed by the enemy planes (Zero). He was a leader and a real hero.

All mentioned are worthy of the designation 'best of the best'. I had the opportunity to know Mr. Foss, later in life, however and that, of course, colors my recommendation. He was a gentleman; a humble and honorable man.
 
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