Question for the Luftwaffe history guys

[VonMessa]

and to get a rest and unwind the mind, the germans didn't get this. if the German pilots weren't flying they were hiding in bomb shelters. their stress and adrenaline levels were always running at maximum load. its amazing how much knowing you have a goal, such as a set time limit in combat or just a few weeks away from combat to rest, can do for a persons moral. its also a big plus to your mental state when you know that your family is safe living thousands of miles away from the fight as apposed to knowing that your family is huddled up in a dark hole somewhere as the bombs fall and the world around them colapses. just the psychological strains on a person knowing their families are in constant immanent danger will destroy the will to fight of any man, then throw in sleep deprevation food shortages the constant threat of death from above ect ect and no matter how great the soul of the man he will burn out and start to make fatal mistakes.

Sounds like ranger school, minus the family hiding in bunkers.  

I've read a few accounts (cannot cite anything in particular, sorry) where, towards the end of the war, the pilots sent into battle were as green as grass.  Hiding aircraft beneath highway overpasses was not an uncommon practice, either as they were running out of intact airfields, as well.

[Babalonian]

I know they exist and I know others have cited the hours. It dwindled significantly to almost nothing by war's end. LW pilots before the war and in the beginning phases were some of the most practiced (going by hours alone) in the world. Without it in front of me I couldn't say how many hours, but from reading a number of things over the years I know they're to be found... somewhere.

Pre-war Germany, wasn't a popular activity of the not-so-poor glidding in gliders off the alps?  I've read how many if not all pre-war pilots were experienced glider pilots before joining the military and Luftwaffe (*speculation* - possibley a strict prequalification?... if so, then perhaps they were the first/only organized air corps to require applicants to have previous experience?...). 

I know some of the most successful German combat aces were noted or successful glider pilots before the war too.

[Krusty]

The gliding emphasis pre-war was due to the limits and sanctions on building actual airplanes with engines. These were soon thrown off and the emphasis moved back to aircraft production. The intent was always to gear up towards an air force again.

[Ack-Ack]

I'd be curious as to whether the numbers for the early LW drivers correspond to the late in the game USAAF pilots and when the pendulum swung in favor of the Allies in training of their pilots.

I'll have to find the name of the report again but there was a USAAF report done after the war in 1946 that compared the training of Japanese and German pilots against US pilots.  According to the report, the USAAF didn't reach parity with the training and experience level of both Germany and Japan until 1943, which according to the report was the start of the decline training and pilot quality for both Axis air forces, while US training continued to improve and then surpass.

ack-ack

[230G]

  A superb book that gives some insight into this subject is: "I Flew for the Führer" by Heinz Knoke.  One of the best aviation books I've ever read.

 230G/35 Whelen

[Guppy35]

I'll have to find the name of the report again but there was a USAAF report done after the war in 1946 that compared the training of Japanese and German pilots against US pilots.  According to the report, the USAAF didn't reach parity with the training and experience level of both Germany and Japan until 1943, which according to the report was the start of the decline training and pilot quality for both Axis air forces, while US training continued to improve and then surpass.

ack-ack

It only makes sense as the US wasn't prepared at all in the beginning and had to get up to speed.  I was just really surprised at how many hours that 51 driver had in 45 before he flew his first combat sortie.

[perdue3]

I'm curious if any of you have any documentation on the type of training hours a German fighter pilot got prior to going to an operational squadron. both prior to the war and by the end.

As an RAF history guy I've read the stories of the guys going into the B of B with only 10-15 hours on Spits or Hurricanes.  I have had the logbook of an RCAF Spit pilot for a long time and he joined his first operational squadron, 416 on December 9, 1941.  At the time he joined them he had 208 hours total flight time of which 66 were dual and 142 were solo.  His total Spitfire time when he went on ops was 42 hours.

I came into possession of a P51 pilots logs today and was looking at them.  He flew VLR missions off Iwo with the 21st FG.  He had 470 total hours flying time when he joined his first operational squadron of which 230 were single engine solo time of which 150 hours were in the P-51

I'd be curious as to whether the numbers for the early LW drivers correspond to the late in the game USAAF pilots and when the pendulum swung in favor of the Allies in training of their pilots.

Depends on month/year.

[Bino]

A good look at the strategic issues of the air war is Richard Overy's The Air War: 1939-1945.  Although the book is based on primary sources and well-documented with notes, I found it very well written and an easy read.  Among other topics, it compares and contrasts the approaches that each major power took regarding production, planning, training, and application of scientific research.  Highly recommended.

Overy's section on training actually reminded me of a comment that Neal Stephenson made in his novel "Cryptonomicon" to the effect that the Axis lost because they worshipped Ares while the Allies worshipped Athena.  

[Nashwan]

Bungay in Most Dangerous Enemy, regarding Milch's inspection tour of late August 1940:

In it he comments on the inadequate experience of the new pilots being rushed to the front from the training schools, whom he had found to be of very variable quality. The fighter Geschwader were complaining that they were getting boys who had only done ten landings in a 109, and no firing training with cannon. Milch made a particular point of noting that green pilots were sent as replacements to Erprobungsgruppe 210, which he thought, in view of the unit's special role, particularly aberrant.