![Pegoud croix de guerre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Pegoud_croix_de_guerre.jpg)
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a
military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more.
The concept of the "ace" emerged in 1915 during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, at the same time as aerial
dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...
ing. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a
war of attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era. For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and
air superiority depended heavily on the relative availability of resources.
Use of the term ace to describe these pilots began in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when
French newspapers described
Adolphe Pégoud
Adolphe Célestin Pégoud (13 June 1889 – 31 August 1915) was a French aviator and flight instructor who became the first fighter ace in history during World War I.
Biography
Adolphe Célestin Pégoud was born 13 June 1889 in Montferrat, F ...
, as french: label=none, l'As (the ace) after he became the first pilot to down five
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
aircraft. The British initially used the term "star-turns" (a show business term).
The successes of such German ace pilots as
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann (21 September 1890 – 18 June 1916) '' PLM'' was the first German World War I flying ace.Shores, 1983, p. 10. He was a pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchro ...
and
Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke PlM (; 19 May 1891 – 28 October 1916) was a World War I German professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, and of air ...
were much publicized, for the benefit of civilian morale, and the ''
Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...
'', Prussia's highest award for gallantry, became part of the uniform of a leading German ace. In the ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
'', the ''Pour le Mérite'' was nicknamed ''Der blaue Max''/The Blue Max, after Max Immelmann, who was the first pilot to receive this award. Initially, German aviators had to destroy eight
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
aircraft to receive this medal.
[Payne, Dr. David]
"Major 'Mick' Mannock, VC: Top Scoring British Flying Ace in the Great War."
''Western Front Association
The Western Front Association (WFA) was inaugurated on 11 November 1980, in order to further interest in the Great War of 1914-1918. The WFA aims to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who fought on all sides and who serve ...
'', May 21, 2008. As the war progressed, the qualifications for ''Pour le Mérite'' were raised,
but successful German fighter pilots continued to be hailed as national heroes for the remainder of the war.
The few aces among combat aviators have historically accounted for the majority of air-to-air victories in military history.
[Dunnigan 2003, p. 149.]
History
World War I
![Manfred von Richthofen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Manfred_von_Richthofen.jpg)
World War I introduced the systematic use of true single-seat fighter aircraft, with enough speed and agility to catch and maintain contact with targets in the air, coupled with armament sufficiently powerful to destroy the targets. Aerial combat became a prominent feature with the
Fokker Scourge, in the last half of 1915. This was also the beginning of a long-standing trend in warfare, showing statistically that approximately five percent of combat pilots account for the majority of air-to-air victories.
As the
German fighter squadrons usually fought well within German lines, it was practicable to establish and maintain very strict guidelines for the official recognition of victory claims by German pilots. Shared victories were either credited to one of the pilots concerned or to the unit as a whole – the destruction of the aircraft had to be physically confirmed by locating its wreckage, or an independent witness to the destruction had to be found. Victories were also counted for aircraft forced down within German lines, as this usually resulted in the death or capture of the enemy aircrew.
Allied fighter pilots fought mostly in German-held airspace and were often not in a position to confirm that an apparently destroyed enemy aircraft had in fact crashed, so these victories were frequently claimed as "driven down", "forced to land", or "out of control" (called "probables" in later wars). These victories were usually included in a pilot's totals and in citations for decorations.
The British high command considered praise of fighter pilots to be detrimental to equally brave bomber and reconnaissance aircrew – so that the British air services did not publish official statistics on the successes of individuals. Nonetheless some pilots did become famous through press coverage,
making the British system for the recognition of successful fighter pilots much more informal and somewhat inconsistent. One pilot,
Arthur Gould Lee, described his own score in a letter to his wife as "Eleven, five by me solo — the rest shared", adding that he was "miles from being an ace". This shows that his
No. 46 Squadron RAF
No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II.
World War I
No. 46 Squadron was ...
counted shared kills, but separately from "solo" ones—one of a number of factors that seems to have varied from unit to unit. Also evident is that Lee considered a higher figure than five kills to be necessary for "ace" status. Aviation historians credit him as an ace with two enemy aircraft destroyed and five driven down out of control, for a total of seven victories.
![AlbertBallPortrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/AlbertBallPortrait.JPG)
Other Allied countries, such as France and Italy, fell somewhere in between the very strict German approach and the relatively casual British one. They usually demanded independent witnessing of the destruction of an aircraft, making confirmation of victories scored in enemy territory very difficult.
[Franks and Bailey 1992, p. 6.] The Belgian crediting system sometimes included "out of control" to be counted as a victory.
The
United States Army Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...
adopted French standards for evaluating victories, with two exceptions – during the summer of 1918, while flying under operational control of the British, the
17th Aero Squadron and the 148th Aero Squadron used British standards.
American newsmen, in their correspondence to their papers, decided that five victories were the minimum needed to become an ace.
While "ace" status was generally won only by fighter pilots, bomber and reconnaissance crews on both sides also destroyed some enemy aircraft, typically in defending themselves from attack. The most notable example of a non-pilot ace in World War I is
Charles George Gass with 39 accredited aerial victories.
Between the world wars
Between the two world wars, there were two theaters that produced flying aces, the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
and the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
.
The
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
ace
Joaquín García Morato
Joaquín García-Morato y Castaño, 1st Count of Jarama (4 May 1904 – 4 April 1939) was the leading Nationalist fighter ace of the Spanish Civil War. He is credited with 40 air victories, four gained while flying Heinkel He 51s and 36 with the ...
scored 40 victories for the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Part of the outside intervention in the war was the supply of "volunteer" foreign pilots to both sides. Russian and American aces joined the Republican air force, while the Nationalists included Germans and Italians.
The
Soviet Volunteer Group
The Soviet Volunteer Group was the volunteer part of the Soviet Air Forces sent to support the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1941. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact wa ...
began operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War as early as December 2, 1937, resulting in 28 Soviet aces. The
Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...
were American military pilots recruited
sub rosa
''Sub rosa'' (New Latin for "under the rose") denotes secrecy or confidentiality. The rose has an ancient history as a symbol of secrecy.
History
In Hellenistic and later Roman mythology, roses were associated with secrecy because Cupid ga ...
to aid the
Chinese Nationalists
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiw ...
. They spent the summer and autumn of 1941 in transit to China, and did not begin flying combat missions until December 20, 1941.
World War II
![Ilmari Juutilainen 26](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Ilmari_Juutilainen_26.6.1942.jpg)
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
many air forces adopted the British practice of crediting fractional shares of aerial victories, resulting in fractions or decimal scores, such as or 26.83. Some U.S. commands also credited aircraft destroyed on the ground as equal to aerial victories. The Soviets distinguished between solo and group kills, as did the Japanese, though the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
stopped crediting individual victories (in favor of squadron tallies) in 1943.
The
Soviet Air Forces
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
has the top Allied pilots in terms of aerial victories,
Ivan Kozhedub
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub ( Russian: Иван Hикитович Кожедуб; Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб; 8 June 1920 – 8 August 1991) was a Soviet World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo vic ...
credited with 66 victories and
Alexander Pokryshkin
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
scored 65 victories. It also claimed the only female aces of the war:
Lydia Litvyak scored 12 victories and
Yekaterina Budanova
Yekaterina Vasilyevna Budanova (russian: Екатерина Васильевна Буданова), nicknamed Katya (Катя) (6 December 1916 – 19 July 1943), was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Usually credited ...
achieved 11. The highest scoring pilots from the Western allies against the German Luftwaffe were
Johnnie Johnson (
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, 38 kills) and
Gabby Gabreski
Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (born Franciszek Stanisław Gabryszewski; January 28, 1919 – January 31, 2002) was a Polish-American career pilot in the United States Air Force who retired as a colonel after 26 years of military service. He wa ...
(
USAAF
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, 28 kills in the air and 3 on the ground).
In the Pacific theater
Richard Bong
Richard "Dick" Ira Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was a United States Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country's top flying ace ...
became the top American fighter ace with 40 kills. In the Mediterranean theater
Pat Pattle
Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle, (3 July 1914 – 20 April 1941), usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born English Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace (an aviator credited with the destruction of five or more enem ...
achieved at least 40 kills, mainly against Italian planes, and became the top fighter ace of the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
in the war. Fighting on different sides, the French pilot
Pierre Le Gloan
Pierre Le Gloan (6 January 1913 – 11 September 1943) was a French flying ace of World War II. Unique in the annals of wartime flying, he scored victories against German, Italian and British forces. Flying in the French and Vichy French air force ...
had the unusual distinction of shooting down four German, seven Italian and seven British aircraft, the latter while he was flying for
Vichy France
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...
in
Syria.
The German
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
continued the tradition of "one pilot, one kill", and now referred to top scorers as ''Experten''. Some Luftwaffe pilots achieved very high scores, such as
Erich Hartmann
Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful flying ace, fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in ...
(352 kills) or
Gerhard Barkhorn
Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn (20 March 1919 – 11 January 1983) was a German military aviator and wing commander in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was the second most successful fighter pilot of all time after fellow p ...
(301 kills). There were 107 German pilots with more than 100 kills. Most of these were won against the
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
. The highest scoring fighter ace against Western allied forces were
Hans-Joachim Marseille
Hans-Joachim Marseille (; 13 December 1919 – 30 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his Bohemian lifestyle. One o ...
(158 kills) and
Heinz Bär
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...
(208 kills, of which 124 in the west). Notable are also
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (16 February 1922 – 15 July 1950) was a German Luftwaffe night-fighter pilot and the highest-scoring night fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. A flying ace is a military aviator credited with shootin ...
, with 121 kills the highest-scoring
night-fighter
A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used ...
ace, and
Werner Mölders
Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot, wing commander, and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. He became the first pilot in aviation history to shoot down 10 ...
, the first pilot to claim more than 100 kills in the history of
aerial warfare.
Pilots of other Axis powers also achieved high scores, such as
Ilmari Juutilainen
Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Fi ...
(
Finnish Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment = 159
, equipment_label ...
, 94 kills),
Constantin Cantacuzino (
Romanian Air Force
The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...
, 69 kills) or
Mato Dukovac
Mato Dukovac (23 September 1918 – 6 June 1990) was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, credited with between 40 and 44 confirmed victories. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion ...
(
Croatian Air Force
The Croatian Air Force ( hr, Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ) is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces whose primary task is to ensure the sovereignty of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia and to provide aviation support to other branc ...
, 44 kills). The highest scoring Japanese fighter pilot was
Tetsuzō Iwamoto
Lieutenant Junior Grade was one of the top scoring aces among Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) fighter pilots. He entered the Imperial Navy in 1934 and completed pilot training in December 1936. His first combat occurred over Chi ...
, who achieved 216 kills.
A number of factors probably contributed to the very high totals of the top German aces. For a limited period (especially during
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
), many Axis victories were over obsolescent aircraft and either poorly trained or inexperienced Allied pilots. In addition, Luftwaffe pilots generally flew many more individual
sorties (sometimes well over 1000) than their Allied counterparts. Moreover, they often kept flying combat missions until they were captured, incapacitated, or killed, while successful Allied pilots were usually either promoted to positions involving less combat flying or routinely rotated back to training bases to pass their valuable combat knowledge to younger pilots. An imbalance in the number of targets available also contributed to the apparently lower numbers on the Allied side, since the
number of operational Luftwaffe fighters was normally well below 1,500, with the total aircraft number never exceeding 5,000, and
the total aircraft production of the Allies being nearly triple that of the other side. A difference in tactics might have been a factor as well;
Erich Hartmann
Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful flying ace, fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in ...
, for example, stated "See if there is a straggler or an uncertain pilot among the enemy... Shoot him down.", which would have been an efficient and relatively low-risk way of increasing the number of kills. At the same time, the Soviet 1943 "Instruction For Air Combat" stated that the first priority must be the enemy commander, which was a much riskier task, but one giving the highest return in case of a success.
Post-World War II aces
Korean War
The
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
of 1950–53 marked the transition from
piston-engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...
d propeller driven aircraft to more modern jet aircraft. As such, it saw the world's first jet-vs-jet aces. The highest scoring ace of the war is considered to be the Soviet pilot
Nikolai Sutyagin who claimed 22 kills.
Vietnam War
![Capt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Capt._Richard_S._Ritchie%2C_in_South_Vietnam_-_1972.jpg)
The
Vietnam People's Air Force
The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF, ), formally refers itself as the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF, ) or the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF, ), is the aerial warfare service branch of Vietnam. It is the successor of the former North Vietnamese ...
had begun development of its modern air-forces, primarily trained by Czechoslovak and Soviet trainers since 1956.
The outbreak of the largest sustained bombardment campaign in history prompted rapid deployment of the nascent air-force, and the first engagement of the war was in April 1965 at
Thanh Hóa Bridge
The Thanh Hóa Bridge (Vietnamese: Cầu Hàm Rồng, Hàm Rồng Bridge), spanning the Song Ma river, is situated northeast of Thanh Hóa (), the capital of Thanh Hóa Province in Vietnam. The Vietnamese gave it the nickname Hàm Rồng (''Dra ...
which saw relatively outdated subsonic
MiG-17
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...
units thrown against technically superior
F-105 Thunderchief
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...
and
F-8 Crusader
The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), and for the Fren ...
, damaging 1 F-8 and killing two F-105 jets. The MiG-17 generally did not have sophisticated radars and missiles and relied on dog-fighting and manoeuvrability to score kills on US aircraft.
Since US aircraft heavily outnumbered North Vietnamese ones, the Warsaw Pact and others had begun arming North Vietnam with
MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...
jets.
The VPAF had adopted an interesting strategy of "guerrilla warfare in the sky" utilising quick hit-and-run attacks against US targets, continually flying low and forcing faster, more heavily armed US jets to engage in dog-fighting where the MiG-17 and MiG-21 had superior manoeuvrability. The VPAF had carried out the first air-raid on US ships since WW2, with two aces including
Nguyễn Văn Bảy
Nguyễn Văn Bảy (1936 – September 22, 2019), was a Vietnamese jet fighter ace for the Vietnam People's Air Force ( North Vietnamese Air Force) during the Vietnam War. Piloting a MiG-17F while assigned to the 923rd Fighter Regiment, Bay claim ...
attacking US ships during the
Battle of Đồng Hới in 1972. Quite often air-to-air losses of US fighter jets were re-attributed to
surface-to-air missiles, as it was considered "less embarrassing". By the war's end, the US had nevertheless confirmed 245 air-to-air US aircraft losses while the figures for North Vietnam are disputed, ranging from 195 North Vietnamese aircraft from US claims to 131 from Soviet, North Vietnamese and allied records.
American air-to-air combat during the Vietnam War generally matched intruding United States
fighter-bombers against radar-directed integrated North Vietnamese air defense systems. American
F-4 Phantom II, F-8 Crusader and F-105 fighter crews usually had to contend with
surface-to-air missiles,
anti-aircraft artillery, and machine gun fire before opposing fighters attacked them. The long-running conflict produced 22 aces: 17 North Vietnamese pilots, two American pilots, three American weapon systems officers or WSOs (WSO is the USAF designation, one of the three was actually a US Naval aviator, with an equivalent job, but using the USN designation of Radar Intercept Officer or RIO).
Arab–Israeli war
The series of wars and conflicts between Israel and its neighbors began with Israeli independence in 1948 and continued for over three decades.
Iran–Iraq war
![Jalil Zandi-](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Jalil_Zandi-.jpg)
Brig. General
Jalil Zandi
Jalil Zandi ( fa, جلیل زندی; 1951–2001) was a fighter pilot in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) who served during all of the Iran–Iraq War. His combat record qualifies him as one of the most successful pilots of that conf ...
(1951–2001) was an ace
fighter pilot in the
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, serving for the full duration of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
. His record of eight confirmed and three probable victories against Iraqi combat aircraft qualifies him as an ace and the most successful pilot of that conflict and the most successful
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...
pilot worldwide.
[Cooper, Tom and Farzad Bishop]
"Fire in the Hills: Iranian and Iraqi Battles of Autumn 1982."
ACIG, September 9, 2003. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
![Shahram Rostami](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Shahram_Rostami.jpg)
Brig. General
Shahram Rostami was another Iranian ace. He was also an F-14 pilot. He had six confirmed kills. His victories include one
MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...
, two
MiG-25
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by th ...
s, and three
Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family.
During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...
s.
Colonel
Mohammed Rayyan was also another ace fighter pilot who shot down 5 to 8 Iranian aircraft, mostly
F-4 Phantoms
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...
during the war.
Indo-Pakistan War
Air Commodore
Muhammad Mahmood Alam
Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam (Bengali: মহম্মদ মাহমুদ আলম; ur, ) 6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013) was a Bengali fighter pilot officially credited by the Pakistan Air Force with having downed four India ...
was an ace fighter pilot in the
Pakistan Air Force
, "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional)
, colours =
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.
During the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Alam downed five aircraft in a single sortie on 7 September 1965 with four in less than a minute, establishing a world record. These claims, however, have been widely contested by Indian Air Force officials.
Russo-Ukrainian War
On 13 October 2022, the Ukrainian government reported that an unidentified Ukrainian pilot shot down 5 Shahed 136 drones and two cruise missiles earlier that day before being forced to eject from his MiG-29 aircraft.
Accuracy
Realistic assessment of enemy casualties is important for
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
purposes, so most air forces expend considerable effort to ensure accuracy in victory claims. In World War II, the aircraft
gun camera
Gun cameras are cameras mounted on a gun, used to photograph or record from its perspective. They are typically used on the weapons of military aircraft and operate either when the gun is fired or at the operator's will. Gun cameras are used for ...
came into general usage by the Luftwaffe as well as the RAF and USAAF, partly in hope of alleviating inaccurate victory claims.
In World War I the
standards for confirmation of aerial victories were developed. The most strict were the German and French ones which required both the existence of traceable wrecks or observations of independent observers. In contrast to this, the British system also accepted single claims of the pilots and deeds such as enemy planes "out of control", "driven down" and "forced to land".
Aerial victories were also divided among different pilots. This led to vast overclaims on the British and partially on the US American side. Some air forces, such as the USAAF, also included kills on the ground as victories.
The most accurate figures usually belong to the air arm fighting over its own territory, where many wrecks can be located, and even identified, and where shot down enemy are either killed or captured. It is for this reason that at least 76 of the 80 aircraft credited to
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...
can be tied to known British losses—the German
Jagdstaffeln
A ''Jagdstaffel'' (plural ''Jagdstaffeln'', abbreviated to Jasta) was a fighter aircraft, fighter ''Staffel'' (squadron) of the Empire of Germany, German Imperial ''Luftstreitkräfte'' during World War I.
Background
Before April 1916, Luftstr ...
flew defensively, on their own side of the lines, in part due to General
Hugh Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...
's policy of offensive patrol.
In World War II overclaims were a common problem. Nearly 50% of RAF victories in the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, for instance, do not tally statistically with recorded German losses—but some at least of this apparent over-claiming can be tallied with known wrecks, and aircrew known to have been in British
PoW camps. An overclaim of about 2-3 was common on all sides, and Soviet overclaims were sometimes higher. The claims of the Luftwaffe pilots are considered as mostly reasonable and more accurate than those according to the British and American system.
To quote an extreme example, in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, both the U.S. and Communist air arms claimed a 10-to-1 victory/loss ratio.
Non-pilot aces
![Capt C DeBellevue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Capt_C_DeBellevue.jpg)
While aces are generally thought of exclusively as fighter pilots, some have accorded this status to gunners on bombers or
reconnaissance aircraft,
observers in two-seater fighters such as the early
Bristol F.2b
The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...
, and
navigators/weapons officers in jet aircraft such as the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...
. Because pilots often teamed with different air crew members, an observer or gunner might be an ace while his pilot is not, or vice versa. Observer aces constitute a sizable minority in many lists.
In World War I, the observer
Gottfried Ehmann
''Vizefeldwebel'' Gottfried Ehmann was a German World War I flying ace credited with twelve aerial victories.
Franks et al 1993, p. 103The Aerodrome website's page on Ehmann http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/ehmann2.php Retrieved on 13 April ...
of the German ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
'' was credited with 12 kills, for which he was awarded the Golden
Military Merit Cross. In the Royal Flying Corps the observer
Charles George Gass tallied 39 victories, of which 5 were actually confirmed. The spread was caused by the lavish British system of aerial victory confirmation.
In World War II,
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
S/Sgt. Michael Arooth, a
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner serving in the
379th Bombardment Group 379th may refer to:
*379th Aero Squadron, training unit assigned to Benbrook Field, former World War I military airfield, 0.5 miles north of Benbrook, Texas
*379th Air Expeditionary Wing (379 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assig ...
, was credited with 19 kills and the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator gunner Arthur J. Benko (
374th Bombardment Squadron) with 16 kills. The Royal Air Force's leading bomber gunner,
Wallace McIntosh, was credited with eight kills while serving as a rear turret gunner on
Avro Lancasters, including three on one mission.
Flight Sergeant F. J. Barker contributed to 12 victories while flying as a gunner in a
Boulton Paul Defiant
The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...
turret-equipped fighter piloted by Flight Sergeant
E. R. Thorne. On the German side, Erwin Hentschel, the
Junkers Ju 87 rear gunner of Luftwaffe pilot and anti-tank ace
Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.
The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with G ...
, had 7 confirmed kills. The crew of the bomber pilot Otto Köhnke from
''Kampfgeschwader'' 3 is credited with the destruction of 11 enemy fighters (6 French, 1 British, 4 Soviet).
With the advent of more advanced technology, a third category of ace appeared.
Charles B. DeBellevue became not only the first U.S. Air Force
weapon systems officer
A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft.
Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...
(WSO) to become an ace but also the top American ace of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, with six victories. Close behind with five were fellow WSO
Jeffrey Feinstein and
Radar Intercept Officer
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or ...
William P. Driscoll
William Patrick "Willy Irish" Driscoll (born March 5, 1947) is a retired commander in the United States Navy and a flying ace. Driscoll, a Naval Flight Officer, and aircrewmate Duke Cunningham, a Naval Aviator, were their service's only aces o ...
.
Ace in a day
The first military aviators to score five or more victories on the same date, thus each becoming an "ace in a day", were pilot
Julius Arigi
Julius Arigi (3 October 1895 – 1 August 1981) was a flying ace of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I with a total of 32 credited victories. His victory total was second only to Godwin von Brumowski. Arigi was considered a superb natur ...
and observer/gunner
Johann Lasi
''Stabfeldwebel'' Johann Lasi (born 1890, date of death unknown) was a World War I Austro-Hungarian flying ace, a Croat by ethnicity, credited with five aerial victories on 22 Aug 1916, while acting as an unauthorized rear gunner for Julius Arigi ...
of the
Austro-Hungarian air force, on August 22, 1916, when they downed five Italian aircraft. The feat was repeated five more times during World War I.
[Franks and Bailey 1992, p. 161.]
Becoming an ace in a day became relatively common during World War II. A total of 68 U.S. pilots (43
Army Air Forces, 18
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
, and seven
Marine Corps
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
pilots) were credited with the feat, including legendary test pilot
Chuck Yeager
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...
.
In the
Soviet offensive of 1944 in the
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
, Finnish pilot
Hans Wind shot down 30 enemy aircraft in 12 days. In doing so, he obtained "ace in a day" status three times.
During the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Pakistani pilot
Muhammad Mahmood Alam
Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam (Bengali: মহম্মদ মাহমুদ আলম; ur, ) 6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013) was a Bengali fighter pilot officially credited by the Pakistan Air Force with having downed four India ...
downed five aircraft in a single sortie on 7 September 1965 with four in less than a minute, establishing a world record. These claims, however, as always have been widely contested by Indian Air Force.
See also
*
Fighter aircraft
*
Iraqi aerial victories during the Iran–Iraq war
*
Light fighter
*
List of aces of aces
Ace of aces is a title accorded to the top active ace within a branch of service in a nation's military in time of war. The title is most closely associated with fighter aces, though there are other types, such as tank aces and submarine aces.
...
*
List of Egyptian flying aces
The following Egyptian pilots are confirmed or alleged to have become flying aces by scoring five or more air-to-air victories while flying combat—mainly against the Israeli Air Force:
* Ali Wajai (alias Ali Wagedy) flew a MiG 21 with 5 conf ...
*
List of German World War II jet aces
This list of German World War II jet aces has a sortable table of notable German jet ace pilots during World War II.
Background
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during a ...
*
List of Iranian aerial victories during the Iran–Iraq war
*
List of Israeli flying aces
The following is a list of Israeli flying aces in Arab-Israeli wars.
List of aces
See also
* History of the Israeli Air Force
* List of Egyptian flying aces
* List of Syrian flying aces
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{Lists of fly ...
*
List of Korean War flying aces
Dozens of aviators were credited as flying aces in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The number of total flying aces, who are credited with downing five or more enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat, is disputed in the war.
The Korean War saw the ...
*
List of Spanish Civil War flying aces
The following is a list of Spanish Civil War flying aces.
See also
*Spanish Air Force
* Aviación Nacional
*Spanish Republican Air Force
The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, th ...
*
List of Syrian flying aces
The following Syrian pilots became flying aces by scoring five or more confirmed aerial victories while flying combat against the Israeli Air Force.
See also
* MiG-21 aces
* List of Israeli flying aces
* List of Egyptian flying aces
Notes
Ref ...
*
List of Vietnam War flying aces
The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots), and five Americans.
The American aces flew as members of two-man crews on F-4 ...
*
List of World War I flying aces
The following are lists of World War I flying aces. Historically, a flying ace was defined as a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The term was first used by French newspapers, describ ...
*
List of World War II aces by country
This is a list of fighter aces in World War II, ordered by national origin. See also List of World War II flying aces.
Australia
There were 103 air aces from Australia during the Second World War. For more information, see List of World War II ...
*
List of World War II flying aces
Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane the pilot flew and the planes they flew against, how long they served, their oppo ...
*
Lists of flying aces in Arab–Israeli wars
Lists of flying aces in Arab–Israeli wars cover flying aces of the Arab–Israeli conflict. These are military aviators who typically have shot down five or more enemy aircraft. The lists are organized by nationality.
Lists
*List of Egyptian fl ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Belich, Jamie. "Ace, air combat". Richard Holmes, Charles Singleton and Spencer Jones, eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Military History''. Oxford University Press, 2001
nline 2004
* Bergström, Christer. ''Barbarossa: The Air Battle, July–December 1941''. Birmingham, UK: Classic Publications, 2007. .
* Dunnigan, James F. ''How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the Twenty-first Century''. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. .
* Farr, Finis. ''Rickenbacker's Luck: An American Life.'' New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. .
*
Franks, Norman and Frank W. Bailey. ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918''. London: Grub Street, 1992. .
*
Franks, Norman, Frank W. Bailey and Russell Guest. ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. London: Grub Street, 1993. .
* .
* Galland, Adolf ''The First and the Last'' London, Methuen, 1955 (''Die Ersten und die Letzten'' Germany, Franz Schneekluth, 1953).
*
* Guttman, Jon. ''Pusher Aces of World War 1''. London: Osprey, 2009. .
* Hobson, Chris. ''Vietnam Air Losses, USAF, USN, USMC, Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961–1973''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2001. .
* Johnson, J. E. ''Wing Leader''. London: Ballantine, 1967.
* Lake, John. ''The Battle of Britain''. London: Amber Books, 2000. .
*
Lee, Arthur Gould. ''No Parachute''. London: Jarrolds, 1968.
* O'Connor, Martin. ''Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914–1918''. Boulder, Colorado: Flying Machine Press, 1986. .
* Pieters, Walter M. ''Above Flanders' Fields: A Complete Record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and Their Units During the Great War, 1914–1918''. London: Grub Street, 1998. .
* Robertson, Linda R. (2005). ''The Dream of Civilized Warfare: World War I Flying Aces and the American Imagination ''. University of Minnesota Press. ,
* Robinson, Bruce (ed.) ''von Richthofen and the Flying Circus''. Letchworth, UK: Harleyford, 1958.
* Shores, Christopher. ''Air Aces''. Greenwich Connecticut: Bison Books, 1983.
* .
* Stenman, Kari and Kalevi Keskinen. ''Finnish Aces of World War 2'' (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces, number 23). London: Osprey Publishing. 1998. .
* Thomas, Andrew. ''Defiant, Blenheim and Havoc Aces''. London: Osprey Publishing, 2012. .
* Toliver, Raymond J. and Trevor J. Constable. ''Horrido!: Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe''. London: Bantam Books, 1979. .
* Toperczer, Istvan. ''MIG-17 and MIG-19 Units of the Vietnam War'' (Osprey Combat Aircraft, number 25). London: Osprey, 2001. .
* .
External links
Air Aces Homepage (A.Magnus)Air Aces Website (Jan Šafařík)Air Combat Information Group Website
{{Lists of flying aces
Flying aces
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...