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Flying ace

(Redirected from Fighter ace)

A flying ace is a military aviator who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft. The term originated in World War I in France, when French newspapers described Adolphe Pegoud as a flying ace after he became the first pilot to shoot down five German aircraft. Ace is also used to refer to non-aviators who have distinguished themselves by sinking ships, destroying tanks, etc. (i.e. U-boat ace). During WWI the Central Powers as well as Britain specified an ace as someone who had 10 or more confirmed "kills".

Contents

World War I

**Aces of World War I**
Name	Country	Service	Victories	Notes
Manfred von Richthofen	Germany	Luftwaffe	80	"The Red Baron"
René Fonck	France	Aviation Militaire	75	Top Allied
Billy Bishop	Canada	Royal Flying Corps	72	Top British Empire
Ernst Udet	Germany	Luftwaffe	62
Raymond Collishaw	Canada	Royal Naval Air Service	61	Top RNAS
James McCudden	UK	Royal Flying Corps	57
Erich Löwenhardt	Germany	Luftwaffe	54
William Barker	Canada	Royal Flying Corps	53
Georges Guynemer	France	Aviation Militaire	53
Edward Mannock	England	Royal Flying Corps	50
Werner Voss	Germany	Luftwaffe	48
George McElroy	Ireland	Royal Flying Corps	47	Top Ireland
Robert Little	Australia	Royal Naval Air Service	47	Top Australia
Albert Ball	UK	Royal Flying Corps	44
Charles Nungesser	France	Aviation Militaire	43
Oswald Boelcke	Germany	Luftwaffe	40
Lothar von Richthofen	Germany	Luftwaffe	40
Francesco Baracca	Italy	Corpo Aeronautico Militare	34	Top Italy
Eddie Rickenbacker	USA	US Army Air Service	26	Top US
Frank Luke	USA	US Army Air Service	18	Medal of Honor
Raoul Lufbery	France & USA	Escadrille Lafayette & US Army Air Service	17
Max Immelmann	Germany	Luftwaffe	15	"The Blue Max"
James White	Canada	Royal Naval Air Service	12
Christopher Draper	UK	Royal Naval Air Service	9	"The Mad Major"
Cyril Lowe	UK	Royal Flying Corps	9

Spanish Civil War

**Aces of Spanish Civil War**
Name	Country	Service	Victories
Alois Vasatko	Czechoslovakia	Republican Air Force	17
Mario Bonzano	Italy	Nationalist Air Force	15
Brunetto di Montegnacco	Italy	Nationalist Air Force	14
Werner Mölders	Germany	Condor Legion	14
Guido Presel	Italy	Nationalist Air Force	13
Wolfgang Schellman	Germany	Condor Legion	12
Harro Harder	Germany	Condor Legion	11
Abel Guides	France	Republican Air Force	10

World War II

**Aces of World War II**
Name	Country	Service	Victories
Erich "Bubi" Hartmann	Germany	Luftwaffe	352
Gerhard Barkhorn	Germany	Luftwaffe	301
Günther Rall	Germany	Luftwaffe	275
Otto Kittel	Germany	Luftwaffe	267
Walter Nowotny	Germany	Luftwaffe	258
Wilhelm Batz	Germany	Luftwaffe	237
Erich Rudorffer	Germany	Luftwaffe	222
Heinz Bär	Germany	Luftwaffe	220
Hermann Graf	Germany	Luftwaffe	212
Heinrich Ehrler	Germany	Luftwaffe	208
Theodor Weissenberger	Germany	Luftwaffe	208
Hans Philipp	Germany	Luftwaffe	206
Walter Schuck	Germany	Luftwaffe	206
Anton Hafner	Germany	Luftwaffe	204
Helmut Lipfert	Germany	Luftwaffe	203
Walter Krupinski	Germany	Luftwaffe	197
Anton Hackl	Germany	Luftwaffe	192
Joachim Brendel	Germany	Luftwaffe	189
Max Stotz	Germany	Luftwaffe	189
Joachim Kirschner	Germany	Luftwaffe	188
Kurt Brändle	Germany	Luftwaffe	180
Günther Josten	Germany	Luftwaffe	178
Johannes Steinhoff	Germany	Luftwaffe	178
Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert	Germany	Luftwaffe	174
Günther Schack	Germany	Luftwaffe	174
Emil Lang	Germany	Luftwaffe	173
Heinz Schmidt	Germany	Luftwaffe	173
Horst Ademeit	Germany	Luftwaffe	166
Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke	Germany	Luftwaffe	162
Hans-Joachim Marseille	Germany	Luftwaffe	158
Heinrich Sturm	Germany	Luftwaffe	158
Gerhard Thyben	Germany	Luftwaffe	157
Hans Beisswenger	Germany	Luftwaffe	152
Peter Düttmann	Germany	Luftwaffe	152
Gordon M. Gollob	Germany	Luftwaffe	150
Fritz Tegtmeier	Germany	Luftwaffe	146
Albin Wolf	Germany	Luftwaffe	144
Kurt Tanzer	Germany	Luftwaffe	143
Friedrich-Karl Müller	Germany	Luftwaffe	140
Karl Gratz	Germany	Luftwaffe	138
Heinrich Setz	Germany	Luftwaffe	138
Rudolf Trenkel	Germany	Luftwaffe	138
Walter Wolfrum	Germany	Luftwaffe	137
Horst-Günther von Fassong	Germany	Luftwaffe	136
Otto Fönnekold	Germany	Luftwaffe	136
Karl-Heinz Weber	Germany	Luftwaffe	136
Joachim Muencheberg	Germany	Luftwaffe	135
Hans Waldmann	Germany	Luftwaffe	134
Alfred Grislawski	Germany	Luftwaffe	133
Franz Schall	Germany	Luftwaffe	133
Johannes Wiese	Germany	Luftwaffe	133
Adolf Borchers	Germany	Luftwaffe	132
Adolf Dickfeld	Germany	Luftwaffe	132
Erwin Clausen	Germany	Luftwaffe	132
Wilhelm Lemke	Germany	Luftwaffe	131
Gerhard Hoffmann	Germany	Luftwaffe	130
Franz Eisenach	Germany	Luftwaffe	129
Walther Dahl	Germany	Luftwaffe	129
Heinrich Sterr	Germany	Luftwaffe	129
Franz Dörr	Germany	Luftwaffe	128
Rudolf Rademacher	Germany	Luftwaffe	126
Josef Zwernemann	Germany	Luftwaffe	126
Dietrich Hrabak	Germany	Luftwaffe	125
Wolf Ettel	Germany	Luftwaffe	124
Herbert Ihlefeld	Germany	Luftwaffe	123
Wolfgang Tonne	Germany	Luftwaffe	122
Heinz Marquardt	Germany	Luftwaffe	121
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer	Germany	Luftwaffe	121
Robert Weiss	Germany	Luftwaffe	121
Erich Leie	Germany	Luftwaffe	121
Friedrich Obleser	Germany	Luftwaffe	120
Franz-Josef Beerenbrock	Germany	Luftwaffe	117
Hans-Joachim Birkner	Germany	Luftwaffe	117
Jakob Norz	Germany	Luftwaffe	117
Walter Oesau	Germany	Luftwaffe	117
Heinz Wernicke	Germany	Luftwaffe	117
August Lambert	Germany	Luftwaffe	116
Werner Mölders	Germany	Luftwaffe	115
Wilhelm Crinius	Germany	Luftwaffe	114
Werner Schroer	Germany	Luftwaffe	114
Hans Dammers	Germany	Luftwaffe	113
Berthold Korts	Germany	Luftwaffe	113
Helmut Lent	Germany	Luftwaffe	113
Kurt Bühligen	Germany	Luftwaffe	112
Kurt Ubben	Germany	Luftwaffe	110
Franz Woidich	Germany	Luftwaffe	110
Reinhard Seiler	Germany	Luftwaffe	109
Emil Bitsch	Germany	Luftwaffe	108
Hans Hahn (pilot)	Germany	Luftwaffe	108
Bernhard Vechtel	Germany	Luftwaffe	108
Viktor Bauer	Germany	Luftwaffe	106
Werner Lucas	Germany	Luftwaffe	106
Günther Lützow	Germany	Luftwaffe	105
Adolf Galland	Germany	Luftwaffe	104
Eberhard von Boremski	Germany	Luftwaffe	104
Heinz Sachsenberg	Germany	Luftwaffe	104
Hartmann Grasser	Germany	Luftwaffe	103
Siegfried Freytag	Germany	Luftwaffe	102
Friedrich Geisshardt	Germany	Luftwaffe	102
Egon Mayer	Germany	Luftwaffe	102
Max-Hellmuth Ostermann	Germany	Luftwaffe	102
Josef Wurmheller	Germany	Luftwaffe	102
Rudolf Miethig	Germany	Luftwaffe	101
Josef Priller	Germany	Luftwaffe	101
Ulrich Wernitz	Germany	Luftwaffe	101
Rudolf Müller	Germany	Luftwaffe	101
Ilmari Juutilainen	Finland	Finnish Air Force	94
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein	Germany	Luftwaffe	83
Hans Wind	Finland	Finnish Air Force	75
Iwan Koschedub	Soviet Union	VVS	62
Constantine Cantacuzine	Romania		60
Alexander Pokryschkin	Soviet Union	VVS	59
Grigori Reschkalow	Soviet Union	VVS	58
Eino Luukkanen	Finland	Finnish Air Force	56
Alexandru Serbanescu	Romania		56
Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland	Germany	Luftwaffe	55
Richard I. Bong	USA	Army Air Forces	40
Johnnie Johnson	UK	Royal Air Force	38
Thomas McGuire	USA	Army Air Forces	38
David McCampbell	USA	Navy	34
Pierre Clostermann	France	Royal Air Force	33
Adolph Malan	South Africa	Royal Air Force	32
Francis "Gabby" Gabreski	USA	Army Air Forces	28
Robert S. Johnson	USA	Army Air Forces	28
Cecil E. Harris	USA	Navy	23
Stanislaw Skalski	Poland	Polish Air Force	22
Karel Kuttelwascher	Czechoslovakia	Royal Air Force	20
Josef Frantisek	Czechoslovakia	Polish Air Force	17
Chuck Yeager	USA	Army Air Forces	12.5

Korean War

**Aces of Korean War**
Name	Country	Service	Victories
Nikolay Sutyagin	Soviet Union	VVS	21
Yevgeny Pepelyaev	Soviet Union	VVS	19
Capt. Joseph C. McConnell	USA	Air Force	16
Major James Jabara	USA	Air Force	15
Capt. Manuel J. "Pete" Fernandez	USA	Air Force	14 1/2
Maj. George A. Davis	USA	Air Force	14
Lev Shchukin	Soviet Union	VVS	13
Sergei Kramarenko	Soviet Union	VVS	13

Vietnam War

**Aces of Vietnam War**
Name	Country	Service	Victories
Nguyen Van Coc	North Vietnam	Air Force	9
Mai Van Cuong	North Vietnam	Air Force	8
Randall "Duke" Cunningham/William Driscoll	USA	Navy	5
Charles B. DeBellevue	USA	Air Force	6
Vadim Petrovich Shchbakov	Soviet Union	PVO Strany (1)	6

1. Advisor to NVPAF

Other conflicts

**Aces of Arab-Israeli Wars**
Name	Country	Service	Victories
Col. (Res.) Giora Epstein	Israel	Air Force	17
Yiftah Spector	Israel	Air Force	15
Amir Nahumi	Israel	Air Force	15
Djur Abid Adib	Syria	Air Force	5
Majad Halabi	Syria	Air Force	5
Majid Zugbi	Syria	Air Force	6

**Aces and Highest Number of Victories in Indo-Pakistani Wars. These are technically no aces, as they don't get over 5 kills.**
Name	Country	Service	War	Victories
Muhammad Shams-ul-Haq	Pakistan	Air Force	1971	4
Syed Sa'ad Akhtar Hatmi	Pakistan	Air Force	1971	3

**Highest Number Victories of Persian Gulf War**
Name	Country	Service	Victories

Note: There were no aces in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. The pilots with the greatest number of victories is included Two F-15 Eagle pilots were credited with three victories each.

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