This list of German World War II jet aces has a sortable table of notable German
jet
Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to:
Aerospace
* Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines
** Jet airliner
** Jet engine
** Jet fuel
* Jet Airways, an Indian airline
* Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline
* Journey to Enceladus a ...
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 aerial combat (The Germans traditionally set the threshold at 10 victories.). During World War II, hundreds of German
Luftwaffe 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''
Alfred Schreiber
Alfred Schreiber (11 November 1923 – 26 November 1944) was a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He is noted for claiming the first aerial victory by a Jet aircraft, jet fighter in aviation history.
Biography
Schreiber was born ...
, 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 De Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI, of
No. 540 Squadron RAF
No. 540 Squadron RAF was a photoreconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1942 to 1956.
History
Formation and World War II
The squadron was formed on 19 October 1942 from 'H' and 'L' flights of No. 1 PRU at RAF Leuchars as a photor ...
, over the
Alps. 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, in Bavaria.
On 15 August 1944, Schreiber took off to intercept a Mosquito PR XVI (''NS520'') of
60 Squadron,
South African Air Force 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 in Italy; their reconnaissance film and debriefing provided the Allies with valuable intelligence on the Me 262.
During 1944–45, the ''
Luftwaffe'' committed two other jet- or rocket-powered fighters to combat operations. In addition to the Me 262, the
Messerschmitt Me 163 ''Komet'' and the
Heinkel He 162 ''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
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{{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 ...
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Jet aces