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Who Was The Best Fighter Pilot Ever ?

Muradk

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Who was the best fighter pilot ever? This is a question often debated, and never settled. Manfred von Richtoven (better known as the Red Baron of World War I) is one such contender. Another is Erich Hartmann, who is the all-time kills leader with 352 in World War II. Was it David McCampbell, who shot down nine aircraft in a single sortie on October 24, 1944? A case could be made for each of them, but the fact is, one cannot really determine who the best of all time was.

Over 5,400 pilots have become aces, and they have only one thing in common: Shooting down five or more enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat. Not much else exists. In the ninety-one years of air combat (from World War I to the present), the aircraft have advanced from the Sopwith Camel to the F-22. The skills needed to become an ace have changed, and so has the nature of air combat. In the days of Richtoven and Hartmann, many of the kills were with machine guns. This held through the Korean War, but the planes were getting faster through each war (from 190 kilometers per hour for the Sopwith Camel to 635 kilometers per hour for the Me-109 flown by Hartmann to 1,091 kilometers per hour for the F-86F that dominated the skies over Korea). Then, in Vietnam, missiles began to enter the fray, allowing kills to be done from as far as 18 kilometers away with the AIM-9 Sidewinder. Today, the AMRAAM and other missiles allow kills to be made without even seeing the opposing aircraft (from as far as 70 kilometers away in the case of the AMRAAM).

Even during a war, the circumstances faced by these aces were different. Hartmann was in constant combat from 1942 on – most of it against Russian pilots. This was a contrast to the American practice of constantly sending experienced combat pilots, like John S. Thach (inventor of the “Thach weave”), back to train new pilots. Thach had only seven kills, but the Thach weave still worked twenty years after the end of World War II, when propeller driven A-1 Skyraiders used it to shoot down a MiG-17 jets.

Other good pilots were shot down (like Thomas J. Lynch, who had 20 kills, Neel Kearby, with 22 kills, and Tommy McGuire, with 38 kills), and killed. Others had tours cut short for other reasons (Tom Lanphier, John W. Mitchell, and Rex Barber had their combat tours cut short after the mission when Lanphier shot down the airplane carrying Isoroku Yamamoto).
Also, very few of these top aces faced their contemporaries. Many of McCampbell’s victims were downed in 1944, when most of Japan’s best pilots had already been killed in battle, and the new ones had been barely trained. The only definitive instance of the top aces of two countries at war facing off in single combat was the dogfight between Randall “Duke” Cunningham (4 kills for the United States) and Nguyen ("Colonel Tomb") Toon (13 kills for North Vietnam) on May 10, 1972. Cunningham won that engagement, becoming the first American ace of the Vietnam War. The Cunningham-Toon dogfight was also exceptional in that both pilots saw each other and engaged in a dogfight.

United States Air Force studies in the wake of the Vietnam War (the most famous being the Red Baron study) indicated that 80 percent of the pilots killed never knew that they were a target until their killer opened fire. Hartmann estimated that a similar percentage of his victims never knew he was there until he opened fire. The results of Red Baron, which were in keeping with the observations of other American aces, led to the concept of maintaining situational awareness (knowing exactly where you are, and where everyone else is). Probably one of the most valuable tools for American pilots is JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Data System) – a datalink that gives the pilot a good situation report, telling him what other pilots (and planes like the E-3) are seeing. Pilots testing JTIDS on the F-15 reported drastic increases in their situational awareness – in an exercise, they took on F-15s and E-3s without JTIDS, and achieved a 4-to-1 kill ratio in their favor, mostly because the pilots with JTIDS knew where the friendly planes – and the adversaries – were, and could sort out who was going to target which “bandit” a lot quicker than the ones without.

These variables (including the addition of tools like JTIDS) will explain why the best fighter pilot in history will never be determined definitively. One might be able to determine the best of an era or a war (in the case of Vietnam, Cunningham bested the best pilot on the other side), but even then, it will be the subject of debate for years – as long as there are aviation enthusiasts.
 
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Heres my choice

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to Lieut, (actg. Capt.) Ferdinand Maurice Felix West, M.C., - Royal Air Force (formerly of the Special Reserve, Royal Munster Fusiliers), in recognition of his outstanding bravery in aerial combat.

Captain West, while engaging hostile troops at a low altitude far over the enemy lines, was attacked by seven aircraft. Early in the engagement one of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet, and fell powerless into the controls, rendering the machine for the time unmanageable. Lifting his disabled leg, he regained control of the machine, and, although wounded in the other leg, he, with surpassing bravery and devotion to duty, manoeuvred his machine so skilfully that his observer was enabled to get several good bursts into the enemy machines, which drove them away. Captain West then, with rare courage, and determination, desperately wounded as he was, brought his machine over our lines and landed safely. Exhausted by his exertions, he fainted, but on regaining consciousness insisted on writing his report.
 



Well, my vote goes for the General Chuck Yeager ...he had bit of everything to offer...He was a great test pilot, he was also an ace (with only 5 or 6 kills I believe) and he was really famous for one thing, taking the X-1 (not X-15) past Mach 1 in 1947. Officially, he was the first man to cross the sound barrier.......He had broken several ribs (fell from the horse while chasing his wife) few days before he crossed Mach 1.0....... In December 1963, Yeager was testing a Lockheed Starfighter F-104 when it unexpectedly spun out of control at well over 100,000 feet. Although Yeager fought to regain control, he could not and had to eject at about 8,500 feet. While ejecting, his ejection seat smashed into his helmet, tore open his visor, and the flame from his seat's ejector rocket severely burned him. Although Yeager parachuted to safety, he required several skin grafts. The incident undoubtedly helped bolster his tough and determined reputation. He is a typical bad *** attitude pilot...

Yeager is almost 85 and still doesn’t miss an opportunity to hop into a fast jet...... There have been many other pilots out there much better at their trade than Yeager was. But, Yeager just happened to be in the right place at the right time and got a lot of notoriety for his accomplishments.
 
Muradk,

This could be an interesting thread. We should first identify which skills in which pilot over the years were absolute baseline. Ex: The Red Baron HAD to be good with his machine gun AND being able to fly his plane.

What about modern pilots? What skills are an absolute for a Ace today? I'd be curious to know what you think.

Hope I teased your mind..:enjoy:
 
Muradk,

This could be an interesting thread. We should first identify which skills in which pilot over the years were absolute baseline. Ex: The Red Baron HAD to be good with his machine gun AND being able to fly his plane.

What about modern pilots? What skills are an absolute for a Ace today? I'd be curious to know what you think.

Hope I teased your mind..:enjoy:

You did I am writing it give me a few hours. I want to Quote someone.
 
I have read many accounts of WW1 and WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars along with aviation books. IMO it is a toss between Chuck Yeager and Douglas Bader. They were both innovators and pilots with exceptional skills. Douglas Bader devised new fighter tactics even though he was using artificial legs during most of the Battle of Britain.

For sheer courage I would go for Douglas Bader.
 
I have read many accounts of WW1 and WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars along with aviation books. IMO it is a toss between Chuck Yeager and Douglas Bader. They were both innovators and pilots with exceptional skills. Douglas Bader devised new fighter tactics even though he was using artificial legs during most of the Battle of Britain.

For sheer courage I would go for Douglas Bader.

Naiz Sahib :
Do you know that PAF holds one record which has not been broken till today, The record is the first fighter pilot to fly Supersonic Mach 2 with artificial leg or in other words first pilot to fly F-16, FT-6 and artificial leg.
 
Naiz Sahib :
Do you know that PAF holds one record which has not been broken till today, The record is the first fighter pilot to fly Supersonic Mach 2 with artificial leg or in other words first pilot to fly F-16, FT-6 and artificial leg.

Murad sb,

I am anxiously waiting to know about this courageous pilot which is definitly a feather in PAF's thorn.:cheers::pakistan:
 
Naiz Sahib :
Do you know that PAF holds one record which has not been broken till today, The record is the first fighter pilot to fly Supersonic Mach 2 with artificial leg or in other words first pilot to fly F-16, FT-6 and artificial leg.

Sir, not very sure, but are you referring to Air Cdr Dotani ? :undecided:
 
Muradk,

This could be an interesting thread. We should first identify which skills in which pilot over the years were absolute baseline. Ex: The Red Baron HAD to be good with his machine gun AND being able to fly his plane.

What about modern pilots? What skills are an absolute for a Ace today? I'd be curious to know what you think.

Hope I teased your mind..:enjoy:

Dear Sir,

I am not an expert being a ground hugger (PA) but shouldnt we compare in terms of which pilot or his actions have had the greatest impact on his service and subsequently the psyche of his countrymen!
 
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The crown of the best fighter pilot ever shall remain with the Erich Hartmann. Perhaps till the top 20, there are only german pilots. There may be many legendary leaders, inspirers and courageous pilots but still the crown goes to one with maximum kills simply because the primary job of a fighter pilot is to destroy enemy aircraft, even leadership and motivation are secondary. Now there may be many capable pilots who never got the chance to prove their skills but unfortunately without proof nothing can be claimed.

As some other memeber also pointed out, we can still talk of best jet fighter pilot or best pilots in specific wars. The top scorer in jet age is Goira Esptein of IDF/AF with 17 kills, more than being a triple ace.

Here I am presenting some of the few famous names in the categories of leaders, inspirers and shooters from Pakistan, as I think. Everyone is important in its place. Without the permission of leaders, potential shooters cant prove their skills. I have done a quick classification according to my limited knowledge and I may have missed many great names. There may be many unsung heroes who never came to the limelight.


Shooters


M M Alam, Saif-ul-Azam, Fl Offr Shams of No.14 squadron who shot three IAF fighters (1971), Khalid Mahmood, Hamid Qadri (both kills by guns). There is no kill like a gun kill and among fighter pilots,a gun kill is highly respected.

Leaders

Masroor Hussain,M Z Masood,Fawad S Hussain,Hakimullah, Sarfarz Rafiqui

Inspirers

Fl Lt Shams who flew wartime missions in B-57 with kidneys stones (1965), Pilot Offr Rashid Minhas, MHK Dotani, Alauddin Butch. Also a ground officer of No.14 Sqn who was not GDP but flew air combat mission and embraced shadat (I forgot his name).


Alam and Saif were not tall and thus could better tolerate gs than others having more height. Douglas Badder flew with artificial legs and even it was said that he could pull more gs (hence tight turns) because of absence of legs. Normally blood goes down from head towards the legs during pulling positive gs.

Pilots are lucky as compared to submarine, ship or tank commanders because they take the credit of kills all alone. The risk levels are almost the same for everyone.

Despite all the stories of courage and valour, Pakistan is lacking aces with just one in the history. India seems to be worse than Pakistan by not having a single ace. At least I dont know any Indian ace and I would like to know if there is someone. During Vietnam war, the USAF was under immense pressure to produce ace as the US Navy had produced several aces already and there was a race towards maximum aces.

The word "ace" is also used for the tank commander if he has destroyed the required number of tanks but it has been never used (as I know) for submarine skipper or ship captain. Perhaps destroying five subs or five ships looks extremely difficult. But at the same time, there were many german U-boat commanders who destroyed too many ships during Atlantic convoy war.
 
Yesterday, i saw a programe on History Channel, 'Dogfight'
It was based on Col Giora Epstein's action in 1973 Arab Israel war.
The programme explains how 4 Mirages of Israel fought against 22 Egypt Mig-21s. The whole aerial tactics was beautifully animated and explained. Epstein scored 4 kills in this classic battle.
I wish, History channel also make such programmes on PAF pilots, especially on Air Commodore MM Alam.
 

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