I was just reading July's "Aviation History" and it had an article about Hans Ulrich-Rudel, a German ace operating over the Eastern Front. The guy only shot down nine enemy aircraft , not that flash for an ace, but he did it in a Stuka! He was never shot down by another aircraft himself, only by flak on several occasions, but survived the War (unfortunately, he was a miserable Nazi propagandist post-War but that doesn't take away from his skill). Here is the Wiki excerpt on his achievements.
"According to official Luftwaffe figures, Rudel flew some 2,530 combat missions (a world record),[Notes 2] during which he destroyed almost 2,000 ground targets (among them 519 tanks, 70 assault craft/landing boats, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, and 800 other vehicles) as well as 9 planes (2 Il-2's and 7 fighters).[citation needed] He was also responsible for the sinking of the Soviet battleship Marat, two cruisers and a destroyer.[citation needed] He was never shot down by another pilot, only by anti-aircraft artillery. He was shot down or forced to land 32 times, several times behind enemy lines."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel#Achievements
Thoughts? |