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08-12-2004, 10:42 AM
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#136 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 12,051
Country:  | Is this the Tornado, or the other thing?
__________________ "When you go home tomorrow, don't expect anyone to know what you have been through. Even if they did know, most people probably wouldn't care anyway. Some of you may get the medals you deserve, many more of you will not. But remember this, all of you are now members of the front-line club, and that is the most exclusive club in the world." - Lt. Col. Matthew Maer CO 1st Battalion, the Princess of Wale's Royal Regiment. Camp Abu Naji, Oct. 2004  To those in that club. | 
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08-12-2004, 12:23 PM
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#137 | | Master of Ewes
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,959
Country: | i still like the tornado......................
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"Reminds me of the time I sank the Tirpitz" comments a Spitfire pilot, "One pass of course, old boy." | |
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08-12-2004, 01:05 PM
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#138 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 12,051
Country: | Good for you.
__________________ "When you go home tomorrow, don't expect anyone to know what you have been through. Even if they did know, most people probably wouldn't care anyway. Some of you may get the medals you deserve, many more of you will not. But remember this, all of you are now members of the front-line club, and that is the most exclusive club in the world." - Lt. Col. Matthew Maer CO 1st Battalion, the Princess of Wale's Royal Regiment. Camp Abu Naji, Oct. 2004 To those in that club. | |
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08-13-2004, 01:38 PM
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#139 | | Master of Ewes
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,959
Country: | indeed.......................
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"Reminds me of the time I sank the Tirpitz" comments a Spitfire pilot, "One pass of course, old boy." | |
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08-13-2004, 11:21 PM
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#140 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,541
Country:  | Back to the Poll... Hartmann is runnin away with this poll.....
Anyone else better than Hartmann??? Theres been several other names thrown in, besides the poll guys...
Hans-Joachim Marseille... Heinrich Bartels... Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer... Gerhard Barkhorn... Adolf Galland... Heinz "Pritzel" Bär... Werner "Vati" Mölders... Hiroyoshi Nishizawa... Tetsuzo Iwamoto... David McCampbell... Francis Gabreski... Thomas McGuire...
Sure there more to add to the choices... It really is a hard decision to make... Any other names to throw in???
__________________  "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
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08-14-2004, 09:01 AM
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#141 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,043
| Ehm...
Baron Manfred Von Richtofen?  | |
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08-14-2004, 09:04 AM
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#142 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,541
Country: | Ahem....
WW II Fighter Ace......
__________________ "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
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08-14-2004, 09:09 AM
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#143 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,043
| Hmm....
I go with Marsielle. | |
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08-14-2004, 09:12 AM
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#144 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,541
Country: | I think ull find that to be the popular answer...
I still feel Kozhedub was the best... The quality of his opposistion, being the leading Allied Ace, and the state of Russias situation, makes him stand out like a sore thumb for me...
__________________ "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
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08-14-2004, 09:26 AM
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#145 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,043
| Well, Franz Stigler then... | |
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08-14-2004, 09:48 AM
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#146 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,541
Country: | Oberleutnant Franz Stigler flew just over 500 combat missions, was shot down 17 times, captured once briefly and had 28 confirmed victories to his credit, including 11 four-engine bombers, plus over 30 other “probables”...
He didnt even recieve the Knights Cross...
Kinda wierd ud throw his name into the mix...
__________________ "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
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09-13-2004, 07:22 AM
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#147 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 584
| I think it all depends on your definition, 'Greatest Fighter Pilot'....Sure a Fighter Pilot's job is to down enemy aircraft and attack selected targets, but the scoreboard aspect isn't necessarily the grounds for 'Greatness'....When you look at someone like Galland, who had a reasonable score, he struck me as a great German Fighter Pilot because of his leadership....He was ostracized by High Command because, as we all know, they were all kissing-ass to the 'Higher Command', to carry-out their impossible orders, and Galland stood up to them on behalf of his pilots....Of the books I've read of Fighter Pilots, it was the WAY they lead that garners 'Greatness', and memories held by those that served under them, that is really important. - Imagine if you will, being a young pilot fresh outa training assigned to a Squadron, lead by a 'Great Fighter Pilot', and a few sorties into it, and these great ones are off clocking-up their score, leaving you to tag along....The training in those days were hurried, and a complaint in the RAF was a lack of Gunnery Practice in those days...In my mind, and reading, it was those Leaders who took the extra time to upskill Squadron newcomers, that were GREAT. - Afterall, this is what Air Combat is about, and leaving young pilots to fend for themselves or just play wingman is bordering on negligent homicide, without full, up-to-date additional on-the-job training....With Leadership comes responsibility....alot of the Top Scorers were 'loners', if you want to read about them..... | |
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09-13-2004, 08:17 AM
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#148 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,512
| Well consider the quality of Marseille's opposition. All of his kills were scored against the Western Allies and 154 of his 158 vitocries were over fighters.
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09-13-2004, 06:20 PM
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#149 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,043
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09-13-2004, 06:41 PM
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#150 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,541
Country: | Marseille definatly ranks as one of the best...
What about Werner Molders??? On Oct 22nd, 1940, he downed three RAF Hurricanes to become the first Luftwaffe pilot to reach a score of 50... By the end of the BoB he had a total of 54 Kills...
He was the first pilot to beat Richthofens WW I record score of 80 kills on June 30th, 1941, when he shot down 5 SB-2 bombers to score his 78th to 82nd victories... On July 15th, he became the first pilot in aviation history to record 100 Kills.... He was immediately forbidden to fly combat missions on the orders of Göring... He personally instructed many pilots on how to achieve success, and helped develop the forward air controller concept...
He flew a total of some 330 missions during the Second World War, 100 of these on the Eastern Front, during which he shot down a total of 101 aircraft, 33 of these in the East... He also was the top scorer of the Legion Condor in Spain with 14 victories achieved in some 100 missions, and helped develop many of the modern fighter tactics still in use today...
(He was shot down quite a few times tho, removing him from my top 3 list)...
This guy kinda fits Gemhorses criteria...
But I still think either Kozhedub, Nishizawa or Marseille are the Top 3....
__________________ "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
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