This list of German World War II jet aces has a sortable table of notable German jet

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

pilots during

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 opposin ...

Background

flying ace 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 ...

or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat (The Germans traditionally set the threshold at 10 victories.). During World War II, hundreds of 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 ...

fighter pilots achieved this feat flying contemporary

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 ...

fighter aircraft. However, only 28 pilots are credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft while flying a jet-powered aircraft. Jet aircraft first engaged in air combat on 26 July 1944, when ''

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") fro ...

'' Alfred Schreiber, flying Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a ''W.Nr. 130 017'' (

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

: ''Werknummer'' – factory serial number), attacked an unarmed

photo-reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of imag ...

De Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI, of No. 540 Squadron RAF, over the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. Some sources refer to this as the first victory in air combat by a pilot of a jet fighter, although the crew of the damaged Mosquito managed to return to an

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 ...

airfield in Italy. The first confirmed destruction of an enemy aircraft by an Me 262 pilot occurred on 8 August 1944, when ''Leutnant'' Joachim Weber shot down another Mosquito PR XVI from No. 540 Squadron, over

Ohlstadt Ohlstadt is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Transport The district has a railway station, , on the Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen railway. Notable people * Wolfgang Zimmerer (born 1940, in Ohlst ...

, in Bavaria. On 15 August 1944, Schreiber took off to intercept a Mosquito PR XVI (''NS520'') of 60 Squadron,

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

crewed by Captain S. Pienaar and Lieutenant A. Lockhart-Ross, who were tasked with photographing airfields in the Black Forest area. Schreiber caused severe damage in his first attack and made more than 10 passes at the Mosquito before low fuel levels cause him to break off. Pienaar and Lockhart-Ross survived a crash landing at

San Severo San Severo (; formerly known as Castellum Sancti Severini, then San Severino and Sansevero; locally ) is a city and comune of c. 51,919 inhabitants in the province of Foggia, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. Rising on the foot of the spur of Gargano ...

in Italy; their reconnaissance film and debriefing provided the Allies with valuable intelligence on the Me 262. During 1944–45, the ''

'' committed two other jet- or rocket-powered fighters to combat operations. In addition to the Me 262, the

Messerschmitt Me 163 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as th ...

''Komet'' and the

Heinkel He 162 The Heinkel He 162 ''Volksjäger'' (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Developed under the Emergency Fighter Program, it was designed and built quickly ...

''Volksjäger'' both become operational. Few claims were made by pilots of the Me 163 and He 162, and none achieved ace status on either of these types.

German jet aces

The list is initially sorted by the number of jet victories claimed.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{featured list Germany jet aces

Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

* Jet aces