Possibly the best pilot of the war?

[crims]

Originally posted by Balsy
Its obvious Marseille, was unplugging, and plugging in his cable modem to get that many kills.

balsy

lmao  



Crims
479th Raiders FG

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Smiggyy
I concur on that 100%

The reading I have done on that very subject backs that up.
They fought with something we, (RAF), initially didn't possess.

Pure and utter hatred for our foes.

Most Hurri's or Spits had only about 30/40 secs of continuous MG fire. Most pilots would loose a 5/10 second burst, draw smoke then move to the next. These guys would chase a bomber and empty the whole lot and/or chase it down to make doubly sure it went down and stayed down.

--------------------------

A Question of Honor
The Kosciuszko Squadron:
Forgotten Heroes of World War II

by Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud


--------------------------


Didn't omit them delibarately from my initial entry, was just concentrating on Douglas Bader as an individual.

Smiggs.

No harm, no foul mate.  I got that book last Xmas from my brother.   It was weird reading it (I am of Polish Descent).  I could feel the emotion in their flying, but reading about them getting screwed over by Roosevelt and Churchill drove me to anger.   It was still one of the best books on ANY subject of WWII that I have ever read.

<>

Karaya

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Gianlupo
I think that no one can say that pilot X was the best of the war... what I can say is that, though admiring pilots who fought the war, regardless their nationality, I like Marseille a bit more than the others... I think he was an amazing fighter pilot, and  I really envy is firing skills maybe he was the best shooter of the war.

But I had to choose a pilot for his overall skills, not only as a flyer and a shooter, I'd like to be Moelders or Malan: great pilots and fine tacticians.

Just a couple of things:

Kweassa:



Are you referring to Marseille, too? Actually, he died in a flight incident, not in combat.

Smiggyy:



It seems too much to me: IIRC, Hurry I & Spit I had no more than 15, maybe 20 seconds of continuous fire.

30/40 sounds more accurate.  

Karaya

[Gianlupo]

Masherbrum, I checked some source I had at my disposal and looked for some confirmations on the web ( for the Hurricane, for the Spitfire): the Spit had 300 rounds per weapon, the Hurry 333.

The fact is confirmed by AH: if you set the ammo multiplier to 1, the numbers are exactly the ones above, and you can test that this gives a continuous firiring time of 18 seconds for the Spit and 20 for the Hurry.

[Angus]

Sailor Malan would count as one of the best, if not THE best.
Funny habit he had though, sending LW planes home full of holes rather than flaming them. He said it was to break their nerves....
Also known for letting others have the kill.

[Gianlupo]

Indeed, odd and quite creepy habit he had... and he did the same thing with Moelders, on July 28th, 1940... one of the few ace vs. ace engagements that I know of.... amazingly enough between two of my favourite pilots...

I read some brief account of that duel, I'd like to know more about it... any suggestions?

[Angus]

Just stumbled across a little thing about Malan.
From John Keegans "The Second World War", p.102
About the BoB Pilots:
"The majority were citizens; but significant numbers were Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans (including the icy "sailor" Malan who tried to send German bombers home with a dead crew, as a warning to the rest"
I have some more on Malan, gotta go digging to find it. Anyway, given the cirkumstances (frontline interception, fighting uphill), setup (no choosing, just fight) and the armament (303's only), Malan did a hell of a job. As well as Spanking Mölders.
R.S. Tuck is another one. A dogfight with Galland ended with both loosing their wingmen and Galland darting away.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Angus
Just stumbled across a little thing about Malan.
From John Keegans "The Second World War", p.102
About the BoB Pilots:
"The majority were citizens; but significant numbers were Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans (including the icy "sailor" Malan who tried to send German bombers home with a dead crew, as a warning to the rest"
I have some more on Malan, gotta go digging to find it. Anyway, given the cirkumstances (frontline interception, fighting uphill), setup (no choosing, just fight) and the armament (303's only), Malan did a hell of a job. As well as Spanking Mölders.
R.S. Tuck is another one. A dogfight with Galland ended with both loosing their wingmen and Galland darting away.

................and the Polish Squadrons.

Karaya

[Angus]

The polish made up some 5% of the BoB pilots and 15% of the kills