Fvourite ace of the skies!

[WarBirdMan]

My favourite is also the greatest of all!Russians called him'Ucranian black devil';the westerners'Blonnd Knight of Germany'.He has 352 confirmed kills,50.000$ offered by Stalin personaly for whoever could shoot him down!It's none other then ERICH HARTMANN!
So what's ur fav?

[Che_Guevara]

Hey,
my favourite one is Oberleutnant Wilhelm Hofmann with his impressive score of;
-13 P-47
-10 P-51
-05 Viermots

"His formation encountered USAAF B-26s near Münster and he led a bounce of the RAF Tempest fighter escort shooting down one for his 44th victory. However, during the ensuing confusion Hofmann went missing. It was later determined he had been shot down by his wingman and crashed between Hasselünne and Flechum. He had managed to bale out but was too low for his parachute to deploy. "


http://luftwaffe.cz/images/hofmann.jpg

Best wishes,
Che.

[WarBirdMan]

Another favourite ace of mine was actually of rumanian descent(his parents came from Sebes,Rumania)and in a way his my country man,even though he was born in East Chicago,Indiana.
A wing man to O'Hare for 5 months and did wonders with his Hellcat!
And here he is!(smiling as usual):)
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dlmgeg

[Trexx]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I like the Russian women aces from World War Two!

Eric Hartman goot-ya... his record will stand for evermore... (imo)

[WarBirdMan]

Really?What's ur favourite?And tell me somethin' about them!Cuz i don't know anything about this...:)

[Che_Guevara]

Lidja Wladimirowna Litwjak

http://pilotenbunker.de/Pilotinnen/CCCP/Litvak/Held-d1.jpg

Born:..18.August.1921 Moskau
Killed †....01.Aug.1943
Missions:....168
Victories:..11(13?) +4

Lilja, so her nickname, was born on 18 August 1921 in Moscow. Her father was a railroadman and her mother worked as a clerk in a shop.
Like many Russians at this time she also suffered from the "Stalin cleaning".
In the year 1937 her father was arrested and executed
as a " public enemy ".
Actually a fact that should disturbed her further career/development!

1940 she completed the middle school, as well as the flight school Aero Klub " W.p. Tschkalow " in Moscow.
(Waleri Pawlowitsch Tschkalow, well-known Soviet pilot).
Already at the age of fifteen years she completed her
first solo flight.

After leaving the school she participated in a geological expedition, returned after a short time to her love " the sky ".
After revitalization her aeronautical knowledge, at the Cherson flight academy, she qualified as a flight teacher and kept a place as a flight instructor at the Muscovite aero club.
As the large " patriotic war " started (one forgave me the Patriotismus), many female pilots offered their services.
First they were rejected, but later after some lost battles,
Marina Raskowa get the permission from Stalin for setting up three flight regiments, consisting only of women.
According to instruction of the chief of the russian air forces, general A. A. Nowikow, three regiments were setup within shortest time:
the 586. Flighter pilot -, 587. Bomber- and 588. night Bomber regiment.
The numbers of the regiments existed already,
but until February 1942 only on the paper.

Lidja was one of the selected women, her military career began with her flight training
in Engels , 15 October 1941.
(Engels is realy the name of a city.
Been located at the Volga northeast from Stalingrad opposite from Saratow)

Her mechanic remembers, that at the beginning of her training in October 1941, as the female pilots received their uniforms, Lilja cut the fur off her boots to make a collar for her uniform.
The next day, she was arrested under order of the Raskova,
until the fur was put back on her boots again.

According to her mechanic, she flew with a yellow rose postcard
on the left side of her plane's dash.
She prefered red roses, but during war, one has to take what's available. Additionally, she painted that famous white lilly (not a rose), on her Yak

During January until August 1942 she was stationed with the 586th Women Fighter Squadron in Saratow for air defense.

On Sept. 10th, 1942 she was transfered, amongst three other talented
female Fighterpilots (Beljaewa, Budanowa and Kuznetsowa)
to the 437th Fighterwing, which fought over Stalingrad.
On Sept. 13th on her second sorty with her new squadron, her flight,
lead by Major S. Danilow, was engaged in a dogfight with a superior enemy. During this fight, the Russians used their better manouverbility and were able to achieve firing position to attack the Germans.

Lilja shot down a Ju-88, her first aerial victory.
Furthermore, she was able to defeat a Bf-109,
which managed to get behind her.

At the end of the year, she fought in 20 dogfights and shot down 4 enemy planes herself.

Shortly thereafter she was transfered to the 296th Fighterwing.

Downing a Ju-88 as well as involvment in shooting down a Fw-190 on February 11th, 1943.

First Medal on February 17th, 1943 (Redbanner Medal)

Promotion to Mladshii lieutenant on February 19th (According to Tomas Polak, she was promoted shortly after being released from Hospital)

On March 1st, she flew for the Squadron Commander, First lieutenant Baranow. The second wing was Aleksej Salomatin and her friend Katja Budanowa.

Her Mission was to fly CAS (Close Air Support) for Russian ground troops. She intercepted a squadron of low flying Fw-190s and shot down one of them.
The other 190s dumped their ordnance and retreated.

On March 22nd, her flight intercepted a formation of Ju-88s, which was escorted by Bf-109s. Lilja downed one bomber, but was engaged, wounded and forced to land.

She was released from Hospital in May and returned to her squadron. The squadron was renamed to 73rd Guard Fighter Regiment.

Lidja Litwak flew escort for Sturmoviks that returned from a mission on August 1st, 1943, when she was jumped by Messerschmitts and was shot down. It seems that she was able to do a belly landing, but died in the cockpit of her fighter plane. (One Russian source claims that she received a shot to the head during the dogfight, others say that she was burried under her plane wreckage).

Since the wreckage was removed, her gravesite couldn't be located until 1989, which would explain the rumors of her being captured.

(According to a Russian source, her body was recovered from villagers and burried in a nearby mass-grave; at the same time, reports surfaced talking about a young blond women with a head-wound.)

[WarBirdMan]

That's really interesting trexx!:)

[Trexx]

quote:Originally posted by WarBirdMan

That's really interesting trexx!:)


Thanks, but our brother, "Che" put up the info.

THANK YOU CHE!

[i16stealth]

quote:Originally posted by WarBirdMan

Russians called him'Ucranian black devil'


It looks like german (or Allied after-war) propaganda. Because "hit&run"'ners in USSR were never considered as aces.

[i16stealth]

My favourite pilot is Vasilii Fedorovitch Golubev.

He was born in 1912 in a village near Leningrad. He began the war in 13-th IAP (later 4-th GvIAP) of the Baltic Fleet Air Forces. He achieved 20 individual + 6 group victories flying the I-16 (the regiment was equipped with this fighters till 1943). At the end of war he became the commander of his unit.

Click here to see pictures:
http://www.airwar.ru/history/aces/ace2ww/pilots/golubev.htm

[Che_Guevara]

quote:Originally posted by Trexx

quote:Originally posted by WarBirdMan

That's really interesting trexx!:)


Thanks, but our brother, "Che" put up the info.

THANK YOU CHE!


Hehe :)

[Double T]

Very difficult to pick ONE pilot... as there were many that deserved recognition. In terms of Luftwaffe pilots, there were some great ones already mentioned. I was always fond of Adolph Galland, but past that, this gentleman made an impression on me... especially the story of him escorting a shot-up Hurricane back across the English Channel during the Battle of Britain.

Tim
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Erich Rudorffer was born on November 1, 1917, in the town of Zwickau in Saxony. He joined the Luftwaffe in January 1940 and was assigned to I/JG 2 'Richthofen' with the rank of Oberfeldwebel.

Rudorffer scored the first of many victories over a French Hawk 75 on May 14, 1940. He went on to score eight additional victories before the Battle of France was completed. Rudorffer was a slow beginner, but was gaining valuable experience that would prove necessary to survive and succeed in aerial combat.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the Jagdflieger were not blood-thirsty killers. Rudorffer recalled an incident in August 1940 when he 'escorted' a badly damaged Hurricane across the Channel; ditching in the English Channel was greatly feared by pilots on both sides. As fate often does, Rudorffer found the roles reversed two weeks later, when he was 'escorted' by an RAF after receiving battle damage. Maybe the story of the 109 shepherding the Hurricane had circulated through the RAF by then.

By May 1, 1941 Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, which led to the award of the Knights Cross. In November 1942, JG 2 was transferred to Tunisia where he was made Kommodore of II/JG 2.

It was in North Africa that Rudorffer showed his propensity for multiple-victory sorties. He shot down eight British aircraft in 32 minutes on February 9, 1943 and seven more in 20 minutes six days later. After scoring a total of 26 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to the Channel Front in April 1943.

The fates of the Grunherz Geschwader and Rudorffer become entangled in June 1943, when he was given the task of forming IV/JG 54 near Konigsberg. However, Rudorffer was recalled to Eastern Front to assume command of II/JG 54 after it's Kommodore, Hauptmann Heinrich Jung failed to return from a mission on July 30, 1943.

Once on the Eastern Front, Rudorffer's big days again. On August 24, 1943 he shot down 5 Russian aircraft on the first mission of the day and followed that up with three more victories on the second mission. He scored seven victories in seven minutes on October 11, but his finest achievement occurred on November 6 when in the course of 17 minutes, thirteen Russian aircraft fell to his guns! Only Emil 'Bully' Lang, another Grunherzflieger, and Hans-Joachim Marseille rival Rudorffer's mastery at multiple scoring.

Rudorffer became known to Russian pilots as the 'fighter of Libau'. Returning from a sortie on October 28, 1944 and about to land, he spotted a huge formation of Il-2 'Sturmoviks'. He quickly aborted the landing and moved to engage the armada. In less than ten minutes, nine of the heavily armored Russian planes were shot down causing the rest to flee in panic. In anti-climatic fashion, he shot down a further two Russians in an afternoon sortie.

For his exploits, Rudorffer was awarded the Oakleaves on April 11, 1944 for his 113th victory. Later he would receive the Swords for his 210th victory on January 26, 1945.

The Green Hearts and Rudorffer parted ways in February 1945, when he was placed in command of the Me262 equipped II/JG 7. He became one of the first jet fighter aces of the world by scoring 12 victories in the revolutionary aircraft.

In all, Erich Rudorffer scored a total of 222 victories, placing him 7th on the all time list. This score did not come without a cost: Rudorffer flew over 1,000 missions, never took leave, was shot down 16 times, and 'hit the silk' 9 times! Of note are the 58 Il-2 Sturmoviks included in his 136 Eastern Front victories (all while flying the Fw 190) and the 10 4-engine bombers shot down in Defense of the Reich missions.

Erich Rudorffer survived the war and continued his aviation career as a member of the West German aviation agency.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lightning]

Hi Double T,

I've really got mixed emotions on this one. I so very much admire the chivalry and mercy displayed by pilots such as those mentioned above. The only problem with escorting an enemy plane out of harm's way is that every one of the friendly planes shot down by that pilot subsequent to such an act of mercy is a direct result of that act.

I must admit, however, that when I read such accounts, I get a very good feeling for the ability of a true warrior to show compassion in the heat of mortal combat. I really can't find fault here.

Regards,
Lightning

[Double T]

Lightning:
I too deliberated on that line of thought. While it appears in direct violation to a fighter-pilot's mission, it shows an insight into the gentleman's psyche.
What I found most interesting was that the deed spread back to the RAF and the 'favor' was returned to Rudorffer two weeks later.
In the madness that is total war, I find it comforting to know that humanity and compassion can occasionally still be found.
Curiously, in this thread I see no one listing ANY Japanese ace.
Hmmmm.

Tim

[Paolo Tagliaferri]

Well my fav one is Saburo Sakai. I've read his auto-bihography and he really did extraordinary things with his "Zero":


He is the only Japanese ace that remained alive until the end of the war
He never lost a wingman
He never lost a plane
He got severely wounded over Guadalcanal: the plane was badly damaged, he was half-blind, with a hole in his head and had very big difficulties to stay conscious, but he eventually made it from Guadalcanal to Rabaul (that's a LONG trip), landing the airplane correctly and managed to be resucued
After Guadalcanal incident, he lost an eye but he saw combat again and shot down some more planes
Over Iwo Jima, he was able to avoid 15 Hellcats pursuing him

But he's also the only pilot I've read the full story ... I don't know if he's the best but sure he did great things, and he was also a person who worried for value of life (A story here (http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/sakai/sakai.htm), and in his book you see that he disapproved a kamikaze action that was surely impossible and saved himself and the two wingmen that were with him by returning on Iwo Jima)

[Lightning]

Hi Double T,

For mercy given by a Japanese air hero (Saburo Sakai), please see the thread "Mercy over Java" posted by our friend Che Guevara on April 25, 2005. My response to that posting, posted on April 27, follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:Hi All,

The politics and hard feelings of the war aside, the story of Saburu Sakai showing mercy to that C-47 and its helpless occupants deserves telling, and aviator Sakai deserves to be revered for that act. Stories like this are among the few good things that come out of war, and they should be appreciated and remembered--as should the good warriors involved.

Sakai could have added another kill to his credit; he could have followed orders and received praise from his superiors; but he didn't, bless him. When he saw the frightened faces of little children in the windows of that plane, he showed mercy, and I, for one, thank God that such men fight in wars, regardless of what side the're on.

Regards,
Lightning