List of aviators who became ace in a day

The term "ace in a day" is used to designate a pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day,[1] based on usual definition of an "ace" as one with five or more aerial victories.

World War I

The first aviators to achieve this were pilot Julius Arigi and observer/gunner Johann Lasi of the Austro-Hungarian air force, on 22 August 1916, when they downed five Italian planes.[2]

World War I flying ace Fritz Otto Bernert scored five victories within 20 minutes on April 24, 1917, even though he wore glasses and was effectively one-armed.[3]

A Bristol F2B crew- Canadian pilot Captain Alfred Atkey and English observer Lieutenant Charles Gass- shot down five German planes in a single sortie over Arras on 7 May 1918. Two days later, they were credited with another five enemy machines in the course of two sorties on 9 May. Atkey survived the Great War credited with a total of 38 victories, making him the most successful two-seater pilot of the conflict.[4]

South African pilot Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor of the Royal Air Force flew SE5a fighters with No 84 Squadron and among his 54 victories were five German aircraft shot down on 19 May 1918.[5]

Raymond Collishaw of the British Royal Naval Air Service, piloting a Sopwith Triplane, scored six Albatros D.V fighters near Menen, 6 July 1917.

John Lightfoot Trollope of the Royal Air Force shot down and destroyed seven German planes on 24 March 1918.[6]

Henry Woollett shot down and destroyed six German airplanes on 12 April 1918, setting two afire.[7]

John Inglis Gilmour of the Royal Air Force successfully brought down five German aircraft in a single day on 1 July 1918. He achieved this whilst piloting a Sopwith Camel fighter.[8]

René Fonck scored six in a day on two occasions, 9 May and 26 September 1918.[9]

Billy Bishop, piloting an S.E.5, scored four Pfalz D.III fighters and a LVG C two-seat reconnaissance aircraft near Ploegsteert, 19 June 1918.

Heinrich Gontermann achieved five aerial victories on 19 August 1918 when, flying a Fokker D.VII, he shot down a SPAD fighter in the morning and destroyed four Allied observation balloons in the afternoon.[10]

Arthur Rowe Spurling, a Bermudian pilot of 49 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, with his observer, Sergeant Frank Bell, On 23 August 1918, flying a DH.9 bomber, single-handedly attacked thirty Fokker D.VII fighters, downing five of them (three by Spurling, two by Bell). Two days later Spurling shot down another D.VII over Mont Notre Dame. The two crewmen shared each other's victories, each attaining ace status in a single mission.[11]

Frank Luke of the US Army Air Service, at the controls of a SPAD XIII fighter, achieved five victories on 18 September 1918, destroying two Fokker D.VII fighters, two observation balloons and an LVG reconnaissance plane. Luke was killed in action 11 days afterwards.[12]

World War II

Triple-ace in a day

To achieve this a pilot must have destroyed 15 enemy aircraft in a single day. This has been achieved by only four pilots, all from the Luftwaffe:[13]

  • Emil Lang shot down 18 Soviet fighters on 3 November 1943.[14]
  • Hans-Joachim Marseille was credited with downing 17 Allied fighters in just three sorties over North Africa on 1 September 1942.[15] 10 of those claims have been connected to actual Allied losses that day.
  • August Lambert shot down 17 Soviet aircraft on a single day in 1944.
  • Hubert Strassl shot down 15 Soviet aircraft on 5 July 1943 near Orel.

Double-ace in a day

To achieve this a pilot must have destroyed 10 enemy aircraft in a single day.

  • Erich Rudorffer is credited with the destruction of the most aircraft ever in a single mission when he shot down 13 Soviet aircraft on 11 October 1943.[16]
  • Erich Hartmann, the highest-scoring fighter ace in history, downed 11 planes on 24 August 1944, in two consecutive missions. In the process, he became the first 300-kill ace in history, and as a result of this, gained the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, by then Germany's highest military award for standard servicemen.
  • Hiromichi Shinohara, on 27 June 1939 set an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force record of eleven victories in a single day during an air battle over Tamsak-Bulak.

Ace in a day

  • On 6 January 1940, Jorma Sarvanto, a Finnish lieutenant, destroyed six Soviet DB-3 bombers in four minutes on one flight. Sarvanto was the top scoring pilot in the Winter War, with 17 kills. The wrecks of the bombers were found near Kuopio.[17]
  • On 17 May 1940, Max Bucholz, a German Oberleutnant of 1./JG 3 shot down four RAF Bristol Blenheims and two French Curtis Hawk 75As. These were his first victories.
  • On 29 May 1940 during the Dunkirk evacuation, RAF turret gunner Corporal Albert Lippett and his pilot, Flight Lieutenant Nicholas Gresham Cooke, claimed two Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and a Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter during their first sortie, then added five Junkers Ju 87 bombers in their second that day, becoming Britain's first aces in a day in the Second World War.[18] Both men would die when their Boulton Paul Defiant was shot down on 31 May as they continued to protect the ships and troops at the beach.
  • On 15 June 1940, Pierre Le Gloan of the French Air Force destroyed five Italian aircraft in one flight.[19]
  • On 24 August 1940, Antoni Głowacki, flying with a Polish Squadron in the RAF, shot down three Bf 109s and two Junkers Ju 88 bombers over Ramsgate, to become the first ace in a day of the Battle of Britain.[20]
  • Also on 24 August 1940, RAF pilot Ronald Hamlyn shot down five aircraft, flying a Spitfire with 610 Squadron.
  • On 31 August 1940, Brian Carbury, a New Zealand flying officer, claimed three Bf 109s and two He 113s (presumably Bf 109s) in two sorties.
  • On 27 September 1940, Albert Gerald Lewis, a South African pilot officer, claimed six German aircraft (three Bf 109s, two Bf 110s and one Ju 88) destroyed, along with two probables and one damaged.
  • On 7 October 1940, Archie McKellar. of the RAF shot down five Messerschmitt Bf 109s during the Battle of Britain.
  • On 11 December 1940, within six minutes, Charles Dyson of the RAF's No 33 Squadron destroyed six Italian Cr42s.[21]
Clive Caldwell.

Post World War II

Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam "Little Dragon". Alleged Ace in a Day of the Pakistan Air Force

On 7 September 1965, in air-to-air combat during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Muhammad Mahmood Alam of the Pakistan Air Force claimed to have shot down five Indian Air Force Hawker Hunter fighters in less than a minute, with four being claimed to have been downed in 30 seconds.[37] He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage") and bar for his actions.[38][39][40][41]

However, his claims have since been rejected by succeeding mainstream scholars both Indian and Pakistani.[42][43][44]

References

  • Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. Norman Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0-948817-73-9, ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
  • Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
  • Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914 - 1918. Martin O'Connor. Flying Machines Press, 1994. ISBN 0-9637110-1-6, ISBN 978-0-9637110-1-4.
  • Battle for Pakistan: The Air War of 1965. John Fricker. I Allan, 1979. ISBN 0-7110-0929-5, ISBN 978-0-7110-0929-5.
  • French Aces of World War 2: Volume 28 of Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Barry Ketley. Osprey Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-85532-898-4, ISBN 978-1-85532-898-3.
  • Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918. Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. ISBN 0-948817-54-2, ISBN 978-0-948817-54-0.
  • Bracke, Gerhard (1997). Gegen vielfache Übermacht—Mit dem Jagdflieger und Ritterkreuzträger Hans Waldmann an der Ostfront, an der Invasionsfront und in der Reichsverteidigung (in German). Zweibrücken, Germany: VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 3-925-480-23-4.
  • Aces High: A tribute to the most notable fighter pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII. Christopher Shores. Grubb Street, 1994. ISBN 1-898697-00-0

Endnotes

  1. ↑ Geissinger, Steve (October 15, 1997). "Manmade Thunder". The Argus-Press. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  2. ↑ Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914 - 1918, pp. 190-191, 272, 324.
  3. ↑ Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918, p. 70.
  4. ↑ Guttman, Jon. Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War 1. Osprey Books, 2007. p30-32.
  5. ↑ Shores, Christopher. British and Empire Aces of World War 1. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012. p63-65.
  6. ↑ Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920, p. 368.
  7. ↑ Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920, p. 390.
  8. ↑ Franks, Norman. Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1. Osprey Books. 2003. p61-63.
  9. ↑ Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918, p. 161.
  10. ↑ Franks, Norman. Fokker Dr.1 Aces of World War 1. Osprey Books, 2001. p20-22.
  11. ↑ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/spurling.php
  12. ↑ Franks, Norman. SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War 1. Osprey Books, 2002. p74-76.
  13. ↑ http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/germany-top1.html
  14. ↑ Weal, John (1995). Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Russian Front. Osprey. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-85532-518-0.
  15. ↑ Caldwell, Donald (2002). Walter J. Boyne, ed. Air Warfare: an International Encyclopedia: M-Z. ABC-CLIO. p. 395. ISBN 978-1-57607-345-2. He once shot down 8 RAF fighters in 10 minutes, a day when he claimed 17 victories in three combat sorties
  16. ↑ Williamson, Gordon (2005). Knight's Cross, Oak-Leaves and Swords Recipients_1941-45. Osprey. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-84176-643-0.
  17. ↑ Sarvanto, Jorma: Stridsflygare under Karelens himmel, p. 202
  18. ↑ Shores (1994), p.190
  19. ↑ Ketley, Barry (1999). French Aces of World War 2. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 1-85532-898-4.
  20. ↑ Shores (1994), p. 287-288
  21. ↑ Shores (1994), p.244
  22. ↑ Holmes, Tony (2002). Tomahawk and Kittyhawk aces of the RAF and Commonwealth. Osprey. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-84176-083-4.
  23. ↑ Shores (1994), p.191
  24. ↑ "Swede Vejtasa: In Memoriam". Naval Aviation News. Naval Air Warfare Division, USN. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  25. ↑ American Fighter Aces Album. The American Fighter Aces Association. 1996. p. 212. ISBN 0-942548-63-9.
  26. ↑ Schumann, Ralf (2014). Ritterkreuzträger Profile Nr. 13 Rudolf Frank — Eichenlaubträger der Nachtjagd [Knight's Cross Profiles Nr. 13 Rudolf Frank — Oak Leaves Bearer of the Night Fighter Force] (in German). UNITEC-Medienvertrieb. p. 43. OCLC 883388135. ASIN B00JQ4TPDO  (16 June 2014).
  27. ↑ Bracke 1997, p. 224.
  28. ↑ Stenman, Kari (2001). Lentolaivue 24. Osprey. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-84176-262-3.
  29. ↑ Niderost, Eric. "Chuck Yeager: Fighter Pilot". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  30. ↑ "Encounter Report". 6 November 1944.
  31. ↑ "Chuck Yeager downs five – becomes an "Ace in a Day"". World War II Today. n.d. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Donald S Bryan". American Air Museum in Britain.
  33. ↑ "Jefferson David Dorroh, Jr". Military Times.
  34. ↑ "George Clifton Axtell, Jr". Military Times.
  35. ↑ William Grimes (August 27, 2016). "Jeremiah O'Keefe, Ace in His First World War II Battle, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
  36. ↑ United Press, "Army Flier Bags Five Japs In Single Fight", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Monday 4 June 1945, Volume 51, page 1.
  37. ↑ Nordeen, Lon O. (2014). Air Warfare in the Missile Age. Smithsonian Institution. p. 144. ISBN 9781588344397.
  38. ↑ Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail. "Alam's Speed-shooting Classic". Defencejournal.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  39. ↑ Fricker, John. Battle for Pakistan: the air war of 1965. pp. 15–17. before we had completed more than of about 270 degree of the turn, at around 12 degree per second, all four hunters had been shot down." -- "My fifth victim of this sortie started spewing smoke and then rolled on to his back at about 1000 feet.
  40. ↑ Polmar, Norman; Dana Bell (2003). One hundred years of world military aircraft. Naval Institute Press. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-59114-686-5. Mohammed Mahmood Alam claimed five victories against Indian Air Force Hawker Hunters, four of them in less than one minute! Alam, who ended the conflict with 1 1 kills, became history's only jet "ace-in-a-day."
  41. ↑ Werrell, Kenneth (2013). Sabres Over MiG Alley: The F-86 and the Battle for Air Superiority in Korea. Naval Institute Press. p. 188. ISBN 9781612513447.
  42. ↑ Guttman, Jon (September 1998). Pakistan's Sabre Ace. Aviation History.
  43. ↑ Singh, Pushpindar (1991). Fiza ya, Psyche of the Pakistan Air Force. Himalayan Books. p. 30. ISBN 81-7002-038-7.
  44. ↑ Haider, Sajad S. (2009). Flight of the Falcon- Demolishing Myths of Indo Pak Wars 1965-1971. Vanguard Books Pvt Ltd. p. 69. ISBN 9789694025261.
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