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Most of the readers of this thread probably already know about "Ace In A Day." If you don't, fighter pilots are dubbed an "Ace" when they shoot down five aircraft, and Ace In A Day means they did it in one day. The first to do this was Canadian pilot Captain Alfred Atkey and English observer Lieutenant Charles Gass. One hundred and five years ago, they shot down five German planes in a single sortie in a Bristol F.2 biplane.

https://i.imgur.com/x0kavT3m.png https://i.imgur.com/t6OEbvGm.png

Atkey credited with a total of 38 victories, making him the most successful two-seater pilot and Gass with 39 claims was the most successful observer ace of all time.

Chuck Yeager was one during WWII in a P-F1 Mustang, Glamorous Glen III. Yeager had unusually sharp vision (a visual acuity rated 20/10). wo of the kills that day were scored without firing a single shot: when he flew into firing position against a Messerschmitt Bf 109, the pilot of the aircraft panicked, breaking to port and colliding with his wingman. Here's Capt. Yeager in 1944:

https://i.imgur.com/CJlCIIdm.png

There were a number of Ace In A Day pilots (and observer/gunners) in WWI, and a ton of them in WWII. I found a mind-blowing wikki page on this topic, and while Ace In A Day is impressive, how about double, or even triple Ace In A Day? Yep, a single pilot, shooting down 15 aircraft in a single day. There were five of these Aces, all WWII German Luftwaffe pilots.

Further, a sizeable lot of pilots achieved multiple Ace In A Day(s), the record for this feat was set by German pilot Walter Nowotny who was an Ace In A Day, seventeen times including one day where he scored 10 kills (double Ace In A Day) in 1943. He scored most of his victories in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

https://i.imgur.com/X8lWVVQ.png

So why were the German pilots so prolific? Unlike Allied pilots/crews, who rotated out of combat mission after completing X number of them, Luftwaffe pilots reported to their squadrons and remained on flight status indefinitely. This meant they got a lot more experience, and were able to translate that into high kill numbers. Most impressively...

...the world-record holder for most kills will likely never be bested: Erich Hartmann, another Luftwaffe pilot, scored an incredible 352 kills, of which 345 were Soviet Union, and 7 were Allied aircraft. Hartmann was also a Double Ace In A Day, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109, with 10 kills in one sortie.

https://i.imgur.com/pbuZJjS.png

Hartmann said of his Soviet counterparts:

In the early days, incredible as it may seem, there was no reason for you to feel fear if the Russian fighter was behind you. With their hand-painted gunsights they couldn't pull the lead properly (deflection shooting) or hit you.

There were also a few Ace In A Day in other conflicts. In Korea, office US Air Force say there were six Chinese pilots, while other sources quote nine. North Korea claims two, the Soviet Union says 40-60; many are unconfirmed. For US forces, there were 40 Aces In A Day, all but one flying the F-86 Sabre. The top pilot was USAF Captain Joseph C. McConnell, who had 16 kills in Beauteous Butch II:

https://i.imgur.com/ruTrLxO.png

It's the teamwork out here that counts. The lone wolf stuff is out.Your life always depends on your wingman and his life on you. I may get credit for a MiG, but it's the team that does it, not myself alone.
— Joseph C. McConnell, reflecting on his air victories

In Viet Nam, there were 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots), and five Americans, all flying the F-4 Phantom II. Lt. General Nguyễn Văn Cốc had nine in a MiG-21, who was also shot down during the famous Operation Bolo.

https://i.imgur.com/ljac5ZA.png

While US and South Vietnam did not have any Ace In A Day, US Navy pilot and backseater Lieutenant William P. Driscoll (right) and Lieutenant Randall H. Cunningham achieved Ace status, with five kills (MiG-21, MiG-17) including three in one sortie. There have been no USA Aces since then, but four have had three or more, including USAF Col. Cesar Rodriguez flying the F-15 Eagle.

https://i.imgur.com/SdWrRjv.png

There was also an Ace In A Day in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965; Pakistani Air Force pilot Muhammad Mahmood Alam in an F-86 Sabre, with five Hawker Hunter kills.

https://i.imgur.com/gOE30FDm.png

In the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, Vadym Voroshylov achieved Ace In A Day in a MiG-29, shooting down five Iran-built HESA Shahed 136 drones.

https://i.imgur.com/Q4PIOGL.png

Here are the pages:
List of aviators who became ace in a day

Korea Conflict Aces

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsrguy (Post 12079387)

This showed up in the hangar yesterday... almost 300hphttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1693454101.jpg

I wish I would've looked that good when I was 62 years old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by herr_oberst (Post 12080097)

I wish I would've looked that good when I was 62 years old.

Haha:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Coats (Post 12079598)

https://i.imgur.com/x0kavT3m.png https://i.imgur.com/t6OEbvGm.png

https://i.imgur.com/CJlCIIdm.png

https://i.imgur.com/X8lWVVQ.png

https://i.imgur.com/pbuZJjS.png

https://i.imgur.com/ruTrLxO.png

https://i.imgur.com/ljac5ZA.png

While US and South Vietnam did not have any Ace In A Day, US Navy pilot and backseater Lieutenant William P. Driscoll (right) and Lieutenant Randall H. Cunningham achieved Ace status, with five kills (MiG-21, MiG-17) including three in one sortie. There have been no USA Aces since then, but four have had three or more, including USAF Col. Cesar Rodriguez flying the F-15 Eagle.

https://i.imgur.com/SdWrRjv.png

There was also an Ace In A Day in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965; Pakistani Air Force pilot Muhammad Mahmood Alam in an F-86 Sabre, with five Hawker Hunter kills.

https://i.imgur.com/gOE30FDm.png

In the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, Vadym Voroshylov achieved Ace In A Day in a MiG-29, shooting down five Iran-built HESA Shahed 136 drones.

https://i.imgur.com/Q4PIOGL.png

Here are the pages:
List of aviators who became ace in a day

Korea Conflict Aces

Something that the movie Top Gun Maverick hadn't happened other then by Maverick himself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by john70t (Post 12079220)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1693443025.jpg

The making of...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cvrDud9WsXE?si=tW-3ubYoAfKyEyz4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1693623137.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1693623137.png
[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/33516928829651693623137.

Byron,

I’ve got photos of Baghdad Intl Airport from June 2003 with all types of aircraft in various states of disrepair, including several MiG airframes.

I’ll try and dig them out

Pretty much every photo in this article about an air-to-air photo shoot of a U2S Dragon Lady.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-u-2-dragon-lady-as-you-have-never-seen-it-before

huh, fokker, basically kicked out of germany after ww1, immigrating to the USA, is the reason for the P51 mustang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dck3yr1ISds

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRONE (Post 12084040)

Pretty much every photo in this article about an air-to-air photo shoot of a U2S Dragon Lady.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-u-2-dragon-lady-as-you-have-never-seen-it-before

EXCELLENT article and photos - thanks for posting that link.