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Who Was The Best Fighter Pilot?

Good article. Hartmann's 352 kills is an impressive number.

Mike

There are some remarkable stories about the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII. Bomber crews liked the Red Tails because they did not abandon their escort duties to chalk up kills.

http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1127695

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The 332nd Fighter Group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its longest bomber escort mission to Berlin, Germany, March 24, 1945. It destroyed three German ME-262 Jet fighters and damaged five additional jet fighters without losing any of the bombers or any of its own fighter aircraft to enemy fighters.

Re: Who Was The Best Fighter Pilot?

Gordo Cooper....

Just ask his wife!

Re: Re: Who Was The Best Fighter Pilot?

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Originally posted by Sarc
Duh.....

Really hope that this is a joke, right? These two are ACTORS, and one of them is gay and getting married this weekend whilst trying to make it look better for the publicity. Not exactly the role model that we think of when looking for a great fighter pilot.

Germany: Boelke and Immelman
US: Richard Bong and Tom MacGuire
UK: Ed Mannock
France(spit): Rene Fonck
Canada: Billy Bishop

I just cant split up Boelcke and Immelman or Bong/Macquire, they belong together.

How'd you like to face a two ship with either pair at the controls as many unfortunate pilots did?

Hartman racked up all his kills against bi-planes and obsolete russian junk piloted by inexperienced pilots, and his kill total is thought to be exxagerated by 100% or more.

anyone remember randy 'duke' cunningham? think he's a rep. in california..and may have also taken a bribe or something lately for which he got into trouble? he flew the phantom in vietnam.
ryan

Duke was a great fighter pilot.

Crooked as hell as a Pol though, lol.

Duke can't come to the phone right now, he's at Club Fed at the moment. Please leave a message and he'll get back to you as soon as he can.

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Originally posted by m21sniper

France(spit): Rene Fonck

Probably only good by default - he couldn't get away fast enough.
:D ;) :p
Got to be careful stupid comments don't seem too be going down to well this morning!

Double duh,

Chuck Yeager

He was a ace in WWII before he became a test pilot.

"Shot down over enemy territory only one day after his first kill in 1943, Yeager evaded capture, and with the aid of the French resistance, made his way across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain. Although army policy prohibited his return to combat flight, Yeager personally appealed to General Dwight D. Eisenhower and was allowed to fly combat missions again.

He flew 64 combat missions in World War II. On one occasion he shot down a German jet from a prop plane. By war's end he had downed 13 enemy aircraft, five in a single day."

Re: Re: Re: Who Was The Best Fighter Pilot?

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Originally posted by Joeaksa
Really hope that this is a joke, right? These two are ACTORS

You mean their tango in the skies with the "Mig" F-5s wasn't real?? Of course I was joking.

But one more thing. Does a brilliant fighter pilot have to be a clean behind the ears role model outside the cockpit?
The recent events involving Duke Cunnigham would make one say no, but his recent legal troubles/scandal should not take away from his brilliant fighting career.

Maybe not the absolute "best", but Yeager and Bud Anderson get my vote as I have met both and they are true heros.

Easy question, easy answer: MY DAD!!!

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Originally posted by IROC
Good article. Hartmann's 352 kills is an impressive number.

Mike

The Blond Knight of Germany details Erich Hartmann's life, in particular his fighter pilot methodology. He made most of his kills at between 100 and 200 yards. Two other interesting facts are that he spent 10 years in a Soviet Union gulag, and upon release in about 1955, he reentered the Luftwaffe and served until retirement. Hartmann was adamantly opposed to Germany's acquisition of the F-104's, saying it was ill suited to ghe German climate and experience level, and he was proven correct. Wikipedia has an excellent short biography of Hartmann.

Additional information:

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Every high scoring WWII German ace flew the 109 at one time in their career. Fifteen German pilots accounted for 200 hundred aircraft each, two achieved the shooting down of in excess of 300 each. Erich Hartman (“Black Devil of the Ukraine”) was feared and hated by Russian pilots so much that when they saw his aircraft with the Black petal markings on the nose of his aircraft, the tried in vain to avoid him. Hartman finally had to remove these petals on account of this. Eric Hartman is to this day is the top scoring ace of all time. He flew 1425 missions, engaged in 800 aerial battles, suffered 13 accidents or engine failures but he only bailed out of his aircraft once, over Romania. His skill as a fighter pilot in the destruction of 352 aircraft will probably never be equaled in air warfare again. All of this was achieved in 2 ½ years. On the weekend of August 25,1944. Hartman was awarded the Diamonds to the Knights cross at Hitlers Headquarters in the “Wolfs Lair” in East Prussia. Hartman was asked to remove his side arm by a SS security officer prior to the presentation. Hartman refused to accept the Diamonds if the Fuher did not trust his front line officers. He was granted permission to wear his pistol to accept this Germanys highest award the Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds of the Knight’s Cross. Only 27 of these coveted awards were ever presented, Eric Hartmans was no. 18.

Gonna go with Hans Joachim Marseille. If he had not died when he did he would have doubled Hartmann's score. The luftwaffe Experten agree... 17 enemy aircraft shot down in one day, 8 of them in 10 minutes. Hartmann commented somewhere that Marseille was THE best shot of the luftwaffe. Deflection was natural to him !

That said if he'd lived, some of us might not be around to ponder the question.... Hit his tail jumping out after the engine died, if I recall...

Yeager flew 64 combat missions. Hartmann flew 1425. Did Yeager have a day job or something?

Revisionist versions of the Cunningham dogfight suggest that it may have been exaggerated a bit. The legendary "Colonel Tomb" appears to be a myth. It is more likely that the Viet pilot was a local squadron commander. It was a remarkable action in that two modern jet fighters engaged each other in a true dogfight, but it probably wasn't quite the mano a mano duel that "Duke" later described. I saw him on the Great Fighters show on the History Channel and the yarn he spun was fascinating. It should be true,even if not all of it was.