Calling Stigler a drunkard is a bit disrespectful considering his noble and heroic actions in the air. However there are significant differences between the service histories of Rall and Stigler which may have influenced their choice of tactics.
After France and the Battle of Britain Rall served on the Russian front, flying against Soviet aircraft at low to medium altitudes. Only in the summer of 1944 did Rall engage the western allies over Germany and shortly thereafter he was wounded and hospitalized; afterwards he became an instructor.
Stigler on the other hand served his entire career in Africa and in defense of the Reich in Austria and Germany with JG27. Later he joined the famous JV44 “Der Galland Zirkus” flying 262's. He was a personal friend of Adolf Galland, the only person he would lend his "lucky white 3" 262. That's until Leutnant Pirchhan persuaded Stigler to let him fly “lucky White 3”. Soon after taking off Pirchhan crashed north of the airfield, totally destroying the aircraft and was fatally wounded. He died a few hours later in a farmer’s field while being comforted by Stigler. A day before, Galland himself was wounded and passed command of JV44 to the indomitable Oberstleutnant Heinz Bär.
Franz Stigler survived the war having flown over 500 combat missions, was shot down 17 times, captured once briefly and had 28 confirmed victories to his credit, including 11 four-engine bombers, plus over 30 other “probables”. His decorations include the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Iron Cross 1st Class, and the German Cross in Gold. The great conflict ended before he could receive the “Knights Cross” he had been nominated for.
And then there's the incident with Charlie Brown...
