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By: - 19th May 2005 at 21:30 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
'Screwball' Beurling.
Moggy
By: - 19th May 2005 at 21:33 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
My vote go's to Erich Hartman.
Not only because of the sheer numbers he shot down, but of his age and the type aircraft he shot down, i.e. the Stormovik. Not the easiest aircraft in the world to shoot down.
Well that my tupence worth, over to you guys.
Dave
By: - 19th May 2005 at 21:43 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Greatest [Irish] Ace (served in the RAF during WWII) - Paddy Finucane.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 21:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
"Pat" Pattle.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 21:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Greatest Irish Ace (served in the RAF during WWII) - Paddy Finucane.
Just out of interest, who was the second greatest Irish ace? :confused: ;)
Moggy
By: - 19th May 2005 at 22:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Erich Hartmann...no contest in my eyes...
And if ground kills would count..then Hans Ulrich Rudel.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 22:23 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Where's Johnny Johnson in this list ?
Ah found him, though not with the British Aces
By: - 19th May 2005 at 22:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Oswald Boelcke.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 23:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
An impossible decision really, with the differences between the First World War and the Second World War and everything since then, but......
Heinz Bar.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 23:23 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Johnny Baldwin.
By: - 19th May 2005 at 23:27 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Me......;) :D Or Erich Hartmann!
T J
By: - 20th May 2005 at 01:30 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Top fighter ace !
Well going by sheer numbers...hartman (352) but on the American list no **** Bong, Thomas J McGuire, George Preddy Jr. There is no end to this debate among air historians. Hartman's numbers are so mind boggling!!!! This topic is always good for a great discussion.
BlueNoser352!
By: - 20th May 2005 at 02:03 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hartmann, no contest....352 kills if I recall correctly...
M
By: - 20th May 2005 at 02:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
He might not be the best, but credit has to go to Francis Gabreski (28 kills WWII, 6.5 in Korea) for mastering combat during WWII and the jet age over Korea.
By: - 20th May 2005 at 05:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
there doesnt seem to be any pacific based aces no ira kepford,bong or others not even any japanese aces or aussie's like clive caldwell or sakai
By: - 20th May 2005 at 09:13 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
No Kiwi aces either - NZ had more aces per capita than any other nation (according to the NZ Fighter Pilots Museum)
When the museum opened I was there, and I was very pleased to meet several aces and pilots including the late Colin Grey (NZ's top ace), and the late Des Scott. Both were really nice chaps. Colin told me about after being taken off ops he was trained as a special agent and dropped behind enemy lines - something not many people know! From memory it's not even in his autobiography, though maybe it is, I can't remember. He told me this because I was a parachute packer then, which brought us to the subject. He said as a fighter pilot he'd tried and succeeded having to use his parachute and then found himself being trained to use of to deliberately jump from a plane.
I personally rate Colin as my top ace - top scoring Kiwi, top bloke and who else was an ace and a spy???
By: - 20th May 2005 at 09:36 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Good grief...No Pattle or 'Sailor' Malan?
By: - 20th May 2005 at 09:52 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Be fair to Alvin. He did start a thread a while back about his website and that it is a work in progress...
Posts: 8
By: Alvin - 19th May 2005 at 20:33
Who was the greatest?
You decide
www.fighteracesonline.com