Windjammer
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From World War I to Operation Desert Storm, these are the most effective aviators in the history of aerial warfare.
A dogfight between two aircraft is perhaps the most fascinating type of combat. The technical knowledge and precision required to operate a fighter aircraft combined with the physical and mental strain of a dogfight make the fighter pilots who excel at them truly exceptional.
Unofficially, a flying ace is a fighter pilot who shoots down at least five enemy aircraft, though the number a single pilot can achieve has steadily decreased because anti-aircraft and tracking technology has made dogfights rare in modern warfare. From Erich Hartmann, the Nazi fighter pilot credited with the most aerial victories of all time, to Giora Epstein, the ace of aces of supersonic jet pilots, these men are among the most skilled fighter pilots to ever enter a cockpit.
Manfred von Richthofen - World War I
The "Red Baron" is perhaps the most famous flying ace of all time. Richthofen, a pilot for the Imperial German Army Air Service, had more aerial victories in World War I than any other pilot, making him the ace of aces of the war. In his redFokker Dr.1 fighter aircraft, Richthofen achieved fame all across Europe and became a national hero in Germany. He led the Jasta 11 air squadron which enjoyed more success than any other squad in WWI, particularly in "Bloody April" of 1917 when Richthofen shot down 22 aircraft alone, four in a single day. He eventually commanded the first "fighter wing" formation, a combination of four different Jasta squadrons that became known as the "Flying Circus." The Circus was incredibly effective at moving quickly to provide combat support across the front. In July 1917, Richthofen sustained a head wound that temporarily knocked him unconscious. He came to just in time to pull out of a spin and make a rough landing. In April 1918, Richthofen received a fatal wound near the Somme River in northern France. A significant amount of mystique surrounds the Red Baron's death, but it is most likely that a .303 bullet from a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force struck him in the chest. He was able to make an emergency landing but died sitting in the cockpit. Richthofen had 80 credited kills.
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Erich Hartmann - World War II
"Bubi" to the Germans and "The Black Devil" to the Soviets, Erich Hartmann is the ace of aces, with more aerial combat victories than any other pilot in history. He shot down an astounding 352 enemy aircraft during his career as a fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe, the aerial warfare branch of the German military in World War II. Hartmann crash-landed his damaged fighter on 14 separate occasions, though each crash-landing was due to mechanical failure or damage caused by debris from an enemy aircraft Hartmann had downed. In his 1,404 combat missions, Hartmann was never forced to land due to enemy fire. He flew aMesserschmitt Bf 109 and was continuously developing his skills as a stalk-and-ambush fighter. Unlike some of his German comrades, he didn't rely on accurate deflection shooting—which involves leading the target with gunfire so the projectile and aircraft collide—but instead used the high-powered engine of his Me 109 to achieve quick sweeps and approaches, even diving through entire enemy formations on occasion.
James Jabara - Korean War
James Jabara was a United States Air Force fighter pilot in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. In WW II, Jabara flew a P-51 Mustang on two combat tours and scored one-and-a-half victories (one shared victory) against German aircraft. In April 1951, during the Korean War, Jabara shot down four Soviet-built MiG-15 jets in an F-86 Sabre with .50 caliber machine gun fire. He voluntarily joined the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron to stay in Korea when his own squadron returned to America. In May, Jabara was flying to support an aerial battle inMiG Alley, an area of northwestern North Korea, when he tried to jettison his spare fuel tank to decrease weight and improve maneuverability, but the tank did not separate from the wing entirely. Protocol would have Jabara return to base as the maneuverability of his aircraft was compromised, but he decided to press on. Jabara successfully scored two more victories over MiG-15s despite his aircraft's disadvantage, making him the first American jet ace in history. After Korea, Jabara rose through the ranks of the Air Force to become the youngest colonel at the time. He flew with an F-100 Super Sabre flight group in Vietnam on a bombing run that damaged buildings held by the Viet Cong. He finished his career with 16.5 total aerial victories.
Muhammad Mahmood Alam - Indo-Pakistani War
Muhammad Mahmood Alam was a Pakistani Air Force jet fighter pilot in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was the last fighter pilot to become an ace in a day, shooting down five Indian Hawker Hunter fighter jets in less than a minute on September 7 1965, the last four of which he downed within 30 seconds. A national hero in Pakistan, Alam holds the world record for becoming an ace in the shortest amount of time. This bold feat also makes him the only jet pilot to become an ace in one day. Alam was already a respected leader and proficient pilot and gunner when the war started in April 1965. He piloted an F-86 Sabre and downed a total of nine Indian Hawker Hunters in the 1965 war, as well as damaging two others.
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Charles B. DeBellevue - Vietnam War
Charles B. DeBellevue was the top scoring American airman in the Vietnam War with a total of six kills, and he was the first Air ForceWeapons Systems Officer (WSO) to earn ace status. Only four other American aviators achieved ace status in Vietnam. DeBellevue flew in a F-4D Phantom II supersonic jet with a secret APX-80 electronics system code-named the "Combat Tree." The Combat Tree could pick upIFF signals from MiG's and determine their location while the enemy aircraft were still beyond visual range. DeBellevue scored his first four victories with pilot Steve Ritchie, including anAIM-7 Sparrow missile strike from roughly four miles out, an incredibly long-range hit. The last two victories came with pilot John A. Madden. Madden and DeBellevue were pursuing two MiG-19's when DeBellevue scored his last kill. He later described the encounter: "We fired one AIM-9missile which detonated 25 feet from one of the MiG-19's. We switched the attack to the other MiG-19, and one turn later we fired an AIM-9 at him. I observed the missile impact the tail of the MiG. The MiG continued normally for the next few seconds, then began a slow roll and spiraled downward, impacting the ground with a large fireball."
Giora Epstein - Arab–Israeli Wars
Israeli fighter pilot Giora Epstein is the ace of aces for supersonic fighter jets and of the Israeli Air Force. His 17 victories are the most of any pilot in a the modern fighter jet era. Epstein earned the nickname "Hawkeye" for his acute eyesight, and it was said among the Israeli military that he could spot an enemy aircraft 24 miles out, about three times farther than other pilots. His first kill was against an EgyptianSukhoi Su-7 in the famous Six-Day War, when Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq declared war on Israel with the support of essentially the entire Middle-east, but Israel used its significant technological advantage in aerial warfare to destroy the Arab countries' airfields and end the war in just six days. Epstein downed four more aircraft in the War of Attrition and achieved his remaining 12 victories in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, again against Egypt and Syria. Nine of his victories were in an Israeli IAI Nesher, while the other eight came in a delta wing Mirage III aircraft. Most of his kills were accomplished with cannon fire, though Epstein downed five aircraft with air-to-air missiles.
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Cesar Rodriguez - Gulf War
Even though Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez didn't achieve five aerial victories, generally considered the cutoff for "ace" pilots, he did achieve three in the 1990s, tying three other USAF pilots for most since the Vietnam War. All of Rodriguez's aerial victories were accomplished in an F-15 Eaglefighter jet. His first kill came in the Gulf War when Rodriguez's wingman, Craig Underhill, had a computer malfunction that prevented him from firing an AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided missile on an Iraqi Mikoyan MiG-29. Rodriguez then engaged the Iraqi pilot in a turning fight, spiraling toward the ground. When the Iraqi pilot attempted to disengage with a Split-S maneuver—which involves flipping the aircraft upside-down and executing a descending half loop—he crashed into the ground. Rodriguez was credited with a maneuvering kill. Rodriguez's second kill, also an Iraqi MiG-29 in the Gulf War, was achieved with an AIM-7 air-to-air missile. His third credited kill came in the 1999 Kosovo War when Rodriguez shot down a Serbian MiG-29 that had taken off to resist NATO's air attack on the first night of the campaign. Rodriguez is widely known as the "Last American Ace."
