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08-14-2007, 07:55 PM
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#1 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NIAGARA
Posts: 4,072
Country:  | Top Pilot of WW1
This is a list of all the pilots with over 50 kills and leading pilots of all major participants I tried to be inclusive of all the participants and realize some like Ball and Boelke are absent
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Last edited by pbfoot : 08-14-2007 at 08:14 PM.
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08-15-2007, 02:56 AM
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#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bucharest
Posts: 804
Country:  | I have to go with the "Red Baron" on this one...his skills and his unusual death makes him my favorite.
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These airplanes we have today are no more than a perfection of a child's toy made of paper."Henri Coanda" | |
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08-15-2007, 05:34 AM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NIAGARA
Posts: 4,072
Country: | I've always been partial to Barker his solo combat against the entire JG3 and its 60 Fokker DV V11 in which shot down 3 has to rank of one the epic air to air combats
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08-15-2007, 08:16 AM
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#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Phila, Pa
Posts: 2,153
Country:  | Vote for Mannock. Of the above list (and at least one that was left off), he, Richtoffen and Boelke were the best leaders of the bunch. The rest were great aces, but so were Mannock, Richtoffen and Boelke. Figure something should seperate them out. And for my choice, I go with Leadership.
If Mannock were eliminated, I would go with Boelke. His ideas are the basis of air combat even today. In the furball, he still rules 91 years later.
Richtoffen was great as an ace, a hunter and a leader. Well, good as a leader, great in the other two realms. But he was building off Boelke who had developed the foundation.
But neither one would be #1 because there were fighting against substandard aircraft for most of their time. The Be2, DH2, Ect were lesser aircraft to the Albatross. Their kills, while not easy, were easier.
Mannock gets my vote cause he was both an ace and a trainer. He did similar things to his units that Boelke did to his ("Never from below, seldom from the same altitude, usually from above"). He was not what would be called a "nice person", but he was a very good leader and ace. And the aircraft he fought against were generally superior or at least on a par with what he was flying. | |
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08-15-2007, 08:23 AM
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#5 | | IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 12,538
Country: | I went with Little. There was a spell where he was shooting down planes at a pace that would of given him over 100 kills by the end of the war. Also Beauchamp-Proctor and Collishaw need some mention as they were great tacticians as well. Marksman goes to Fonck. I also agree with Tim's assessment of Mannock.
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08-15-2007, 09:53 AM
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#6 | | Der Crewchief
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ansbach, Germany
Posts: 28,615
Country:  | I have to go with Richthofen.
Some people say his skills were not as great as others but I look at this way: He was a hunter and a killer and he was an expert at what he did.
There may have been other pilots that were better in individual catagories such as leadership, dogfighting, bouncing, etc... but for me Richthofen was combined those qualities overall to make him the best.
Besides his kills says it all...
The first Ace of Aces.
__________________  US Army Blackhawk Crewchief 2000-2006 Classic ww2aircraft.net quotes: fly boy said: "isn't that the first jet bomber? becasue i have flown one in a flight sim before and i know how it handles" "wait what ok who made the b-2 crash come on people that messed up its a b-2" "ah yes the mistel those things are so annoying is games and in real life" | |
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08-15-2007, 10:17 AM
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#7 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 1,673
Country: | Richthofen...His 80 victories gives him the nod for me.
TO
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08-15-2007, 02:13 PM
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#8 | | Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
Country: | Collishaw for me, he was a great leader fought in several different wars, was great when in charge of middle east early WW II. He was well known to give kills to others on his squadron | |
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08-16-2007, 11:25 AM
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#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bucharest
Posts: 804
Country: | Quote:
Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet  I have to go with Richthofen.
Some people say his skills were not as great as others but I look at this way: He was a hunter and a killer and he was an expert at what he did.
There may have been other pilots that were better in individual catagories such as leadership, dogfighting, bouncing, etc... but for me Richthofen was combined those qualities overall to make him the best.
Besides his kills says it all...
The first Ace of Aces. |
You are right here....a name that will be remembered in the history perhaps forever although its pretty weird that the people who killed many other people remain in history...
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These airplanes we have today are no more than a perfection of a child's toy made of paper."Henri Coanda" | |
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08-16-2007, 11:44 AM
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#10 | | Der Crewchief
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ansbach, Germany
Posts: 28,615
Country: | Warriors are judged differently.
__________________ US Army Blackhawk Crewchief 2000-2006 Classic ww2aircraft.net quotes: fly boy said: "isn't that the first jet bomber? becasue i have flown one in a flight sim before and i know how it handles" "wait what ok who made the b-2 crash come on people that messed up its a b-2" "ah yes the mistel those things are so annoying is games and in real life" | |
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08-16-2007, 12:36 PM
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#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Royal Deeside/St Andrews, Scotland, UK (atm Pretoria, South Africa)
Posts: 10,823
Country:  | Quote:
Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet I have to go with Richthofen.
Some people say his skills were not as great as others but I look at this way: He was a hunter and a killer and he was an expert at what he did.
There may have been other pilots that were better in individual catagories such as leadership, dogfighting, bouncing, etc... but for me Richthofen was combined those qualities overall to make him the best.
Besides his kills says it all...
The first Ace of Aces. | This is a good assessment of it and is how I think about it. Richthofen for me to.
__________________  "Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
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08-16-2007, 01:11 PM
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#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Dordrecht
Posts: 1,813
Country:  | IMHO it should be Oswalt Boelke. The first real ace (together with Immelman), laid the foundation of modern Airial combat. Richthoven really looked up to him, even still when his score became twice as high as Boelcke's. The Red Baron learned his flying and tactics from this great flyer.
Boelcke was never defeated by an enemy, he died in a crash with a rooky german pilot.
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08-23-2007, 11:50 PM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 5,114
Country:  | Where's Charles Nungesser? Despite all his wounds and broken bones, he was still flying and shooting down enemies..... 
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Last edited by Lucky13 : 08-23-2007 at 11:53 PM.
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08-24-2007, 03:21 AM
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#14 | | Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 89
Country: | The Red Baron is one of my all-time favorites. | |
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05-21-2008, 12:19 AM
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#15 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 54
Country: | The Red Baron made too many mistakes the day he died to be ranked as the best, albeit he was not in very good shape at that time. Bishop gets my vote.
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