Which Country Produced the Best Fighter Pilots?

[GScholz]

You are partly correct Charge. The original formation was developed by none other than Oswald Bölcke himself during WWI, the father of air combat tactics.

   Boelcke felt that pilots should become accustomed to fly-

ing in regular formations and to maintaining formation integ-

rity.  This goes without saying; one cannot fight on his own

and survive day after day.  This was found out the hard way

by such World War I aces as Rene Fonck, Albert Ball, Frank

Luke, and Werner Voss.20  They were all "mavericks" who pre-

ferred to fight alone, and as a consequence, they did not

survive the war.  Boelcke rectified this preference for indi-

vidual combat by developing a standard formation which proved

successful in combat and later became the basis for all nation's

fighter forces.  Although not technically considered a tactic,

Boelcke's formation deserves addressing since it still applies


in this supersonic age.

     There are three criterion which govern the organization

and the positioning of formations.  First, they should present

a difficult target for anti-aircraft artillery or missiles:

more than one aircraft should not be vulnerable to the same

flak burst or missile detonation.  Second, the formation should

allow aircraft to support one another quickly in the event of

air attack.  Finally, the formation should provide latitude

for maneuvering within the formation without losing mutual

support.  Many formations were developed during World War I,

but the most successful one was developed by Boelcke.  It con-

sisted of four aircraft almost line abreast, operating in ele-

ments of two.21  Richthofen adopted Boelcke's formation and

with his fighter group (JG-1), known as the "Flying Circus,"

ruled the skies over France until his death on April 21, 1918.22

     During the Spanish Civil War, it seems that German pilots

forgot the lessons of Boelcke and Richthofen and returned to

the three plane Vic formation.  This arrangement protected the

leader on both sides but sacrificed maneuverability.  The man

who revived Boelcke's formation was Hauptman Werner Moelders,

Germany's highest scoring ace in the Spanish Civil War with

14 victories.23  Moelders occupied the same position as Boelcke

in World War I, being the supreme tactician of his day in


terms of combat success and constructive thinking.  The basis

of Moelders' formation was the Rotte (unit) of two aircraft.

This arrangement differed not so much in the reduction from

three to two aircraft but in the spacing.  Earlier formations

flew with aircraft about 40 feet apart and allowed better con-

trol in typical European cloud conditions.  Moelders placed the

two aircraft of the Rotte approximately 600 feet apart with the

leader slightly ahead of his wingmen.  Each of the pilots con-

centrated his attention inward and watched the other's blind

spot dead astern.24

     To increase firepower, Moelders initiated the use of

Schwarms consisting of four aircraft.  These were composed of

two Rotten and were disposed with one Rotte flying slightly

ahead and to the side.  The four aircraft were then in the rel-

ative positions of the nails on the four fingers of a hand.

The Schwarm was spaced between 1500 and 2000 feet apart which

made it impossible for the formation to turn in the right order.

Moelders solved this problem by originating a crossover maneu-

ver in which the man on the outside of the turn crossed to the

inside after 9O degrees.  The formation then became a mirror

image of itself prior to the turn.25

     The open position of the German fighter's formation per-

mitted each pilot to continuously scan the skies for the enemy;

whereas, in tight formations much time was spent watching the

leader in order to maintain position.  Wide dispersion of the
                                     
formation meant that if one aircraft was attacked, the other

aircraft could perform a hard turn and "sandwitch" the attacker,

bringing weapons to bear.  In a tight formation, an attack on

one aircraft essentially placed all the aircraft in joepardy.

Moelders' formation allowed complete freedom of maneuver since

maximum turn rates could be utilized without compromizing the

integrity of the formation, unlike the Vic initially used by

the Allies.26

     Moelders' Rotte and Schwarm gave the Luftwaffe a signif-

icant advantage at the start of the war.  A tribute to these

tactics is the fact that all allied air forces eventually

adopted these formations.  After suffering severe losses dur-

ing the Battle of Britain, The RAF switched to four-plane for-

mations.  Squadron Leader A.G. Mahan, No 74 Squadron, lossened

the Vic, added another aircraft, and positioned the sections

700 to 800 feet apart.  By 1943, this formation was modified

to a line of four fighters disposed almost abreast.  By the

end of 1943, Moelders' formation had been universally adopted.

To the Germans, they were still the Rotte and Schwarm, to the

British and Americans the Pair and Finger-four, to the Russians

the Para and Zveno, and to the Japanese as the Buntai and

Shotai.27

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/HEW.htm

[Angus]

Hey Scholzie!
Bölcke indeed! Dikta Bölce works even today.
There is a very good book about aerial warfare from the tactical perspective from WW1 to Korea.

Johnny Johnsson's "Full Cirkle"

Highly reccomment it.

Regards.

Angus

[GScholz]

Thanks for the book recommendation Angus.

[Angus]

It was actually a German pilot who recommended it too me, then I ran across it at Foyle's, London.
Now, let me see, ISBN 0-304-35860-6.
"Full Circle"
It's old, but it has the basics pretty well sorted, and quite good coverage of WWI.

For a good selection, try
http://www.motorbooks.co.uk

They have something in excess of 6000 titles about aviation.
Worth a visit if you're there.
Foyle's also has some goodies, never get out of that store without a flight book in a bag,lol.

So, good luck.

[GScholz]

Thanks again!

[Angus]

NP and merry Christmas. Hope it won't be too cold in Norway!
(Here it is Arse-cold..Brrr)
Will have a very good boksite link to post later, - hehe, a present.
Mostly German stuff, but they have some very nice offers.
So, - later.

Angus

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Widewing
I readily admit to being biased, but I would have to say that the best trained pilots flew Naval Aviation. Be they USN, IJN, FAA or other Commonwealth nation. Anyone can takeoff and land from 5,000 ft runway that's neither rolling or pitching.

Of course, U.S. Naval Aviators built an astounding record in Pacific, and during Operation Dragoon/Anvil (invasion of southern France), swept away what little opposition the Luftwaffe offered. It's too bad the Luftwaffe fighter arm stayed away from the south of France, or we might have had some interesting historical data to look at.

If you want an interesting topic to reseach, dig into F6F ops during Dragoon/Anvil. 71 F6Fs destroyed 825 military vehicles (tanks, armored transport, trucks, etc) and damaged 334 more. They knocked out an estimated 90 howitzers and anti-tank guns.
As many as 115 triple-A batteries were knocked out. They destroyed 84 locomotives and as many as 600 rail cars (with their cargo). In addition, they shot 8 Luftwaffe aircraft. In exchange, 11 F6Fs were shot down or ditched due to enemy ground fire.

Note also that some FAA Hellcats were deployed (about 16 aboard HMS Emperor) and Sea Fires (97) as well as 56 Wildcats were involved in covering the invasion force and beaches.

My regards,

Widewing

Hmmmmm.....Guess that must make James Howard the best fighter pilot of all time

Navy carrier trained pilot, AVG blooded against the Japanese in China and MOH against the Luftwaffe while flying P51Bs with the USAAF 354th FG.

Guess that would just about cover it

Dan/Slack

[scott123]

I don't know who were the best,but I have to admire the Finns,when you think of what they flew and the success they had!

[Dispair]

Russian aces
German Aces
USA Aces