12/7/2023 0 Comments Another word for brave pilot![]() ![]() French Colonel Rene Fonck, to this day the highest-scoring Allied flying ace with 75 victories. These victories were usually included in a pilot's totals and in citations for decorations. Victories were also counted for aircraft forced down within German lines, as this usually resulted in the death or capture of the enemy aircrew.Īllied fighter pilots fought mostly in German-held airspace and were often not in a position to confirm that an apparently destroyed enemy aircraft had in fact crashed, so these victories were frequently claimed as "driven down", "forced to land", or "out of control" (called "probables" in later wars). Shared victories were either credited to one of the pilots concerned or to the unit as a whole – the destruction of the aircraft had to be physically confirmed by locating its wreckage, or an independent witness to the destruction had to be found. ![]() Īs the German fighter squadrons usually fought well within German lines, it was practicable to establish and maintain very strict guidelines for the official recognition of victory claims by German pilots. This was also the beginning of a long-standing trend in warfare, showing statistically that approximately five percent of combat pilots account for the majority of air-to-air victories. Aerial combat became a prominent feature with the Fokker Scourge, in the last half of 1915. World War I introduced the systematic use of true single-seat fighter aircraft, with enough speed and agility to catch and maintain contact with targets in the air, coupled with armament sufficiently powerful to destroy the targets. See also: Lists of World War I flying aces, Aerial victory standards of World War I, and Balloon buster Manfred von Richthofen, known as the "Red Baron", scored the most officially accepted kills (80) in World War I and is arguably the most famous flying ace of all time. The few aces among combat aviators have historically accounted for the majority of air-to-air victories in military history. As the war progressed, the qualifications for Pour le Mérite were raised, but successful German fighter pilots continued to be hailed as national heroes for the remainder of the war. Initially, German aviators had to destroy eight Allied aircraft to receive this medal. In the Luftstreitkräfte, the Pour le Mérite was nicknamed Der blaue Max/The Blue Max, after Max Immelmann, who was the first pilot to receive this award. The successes of such German ace pilots as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, and especially Manfred von Richthofen, the most victorious fighter pilot of the First World War, were very publicized, for the benefit of civilian morale, and the Pour le Mérite, Prussia's highest award for gallantry, became part of the uniform of a leading German ace. The British initially used the term "star-turns" (a show business term). The use of the term ace to describe these pilots began in World War I, when French newspapers described Adolphe Pégoud, as l'As (the ace) after he became the first pilot to down five German aircraft. ![]() Look up ace in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and air superiority depended heavily on the relative availability of resources. For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a war of attrition. The concept of the "ace" emerged in 1915 during World War I, at the same time as aerial dogfighting. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more. The "first French ace", Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud being awarded the Croix de guerre.Ī flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. For other uses, see Flying Ace (disambiguation).
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