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This list of German World War II jet aces has a sortable table of notable German jet ace 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.


Background

A
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-Fliegerabt ...
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 feat ...
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-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...
'' Alfred Schreiber, flying Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a ''W.Nr. 130 017'' (
German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
: ''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 imagery ...
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 photore ...
, 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 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 "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 ''
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-Fliegerabt ...
'' 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 ...
''Komet'' and the
Heinkel He 162 The Heinkel He 162 ''Volksjäger'' (German language, 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 a ...
''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


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Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
* Jet aces