Another great pilot was Maj. George Preddy 26.5 victories and the highest scoring "P51 Mustang Ace" of WW2. Killed by friendly fire over Liege Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.
I think there is a reason for the German aces having so many more kills than US and British counterparts. The German pilots were never taken out of combat, whereas the British and American aces were usually sidelined into training to spread the benefit of their experience. The Russians also had aces with huge amounts of kills- also for the same reason.
Added to this is the fact that American and British procedures on what constituted a "kill" were far stricter than German. During the battle of Britain despite having the strictest counting methods in the world the pilots usually over counted kills by a factor of 2. Most allied aces probably only shot down about 2/3 of what they were credited for and for the germans it was probably considerably less than half. Added to that all the German aces with huge scores got them early on in the east when they usually were up against a disorganised and outnumbered enemy in very inferior aircraft.
@@cbturner46 B-17s and B-24s were not sitting ducks, even before they had fighter escort that could take them for their entire route to and from targets in Germany. Luftwaffe aces that had success against them were clear that engaging their formations was dangerous and required courage and precision. The cripples that were damaged and fell out of formation were usually easy prey, but the 10-12 .50 caliber machine guns they carried made them anything but easy kills. Most of the highest scoring German aces flew on the Eastern front against the Russians for months and sometimes years before they were either killed, wounded, or the war ended. Gunther Rall, the third highest scoring German ace with 275 kills, stated on many occasions that flying against the Russians meant many days with multiple missions and almost guaranteed contact with the enemy that resulted in many more chances for victories than pilots who flew in the West. Factor in the inferior Russian aircraft and pilots the Germans faced until late in the war in the East gives perspective on the long list of German aces with dozens and hundreds of kills.
my Dr. for years was Maj George C Carpenter of 121 eagle squadron. I always loved the air war paintings in his office. I never knew he was a 3x ace much less a fighter pilot from ww2. He was a very humble man & never talked about it. I didn't find out his story till after his passing. I would've loved to talk to him about his historical life, if I'd only known. A squadron of fighter jets flew over his funeral which was a very exciting thing around here @ that time. May God rest his soul in peace. God bless all the brave men who fought ww2, there aren't that many left anymore.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the Eagle Squadrons and 4th Fighter Group. But this lecture lets the uninitiated believe the Americans won the war single handedly. The ALLIES beat the Nazis. Britain, the Commonwealth nations, Free French, Polish, Czechs, Dutch, Belgians, etc and the USA.
I don't think that the ME163 'Komet' was launched vertically. It had a dolly undercarriage that was jettisoned following a normal take-off run. I believe it was the Bachem BA349 'Natter' that was launched from a vertical gantry. I think there were only about 36 'Natters' produced and only one combat mission attempted which killed the pilot. The fuel required for these rocket aircraft had to be mixed just prior to flight and was so volatile and corrosive that it could dissolve a pilot in seconds or simply blow everything to fragments. The ME262 however, being a conventional jet-powered aircraft was quite phenomenal, and had it been available earlier and in sufficient numbers could, I believe, have made a significant difference to the air war.
My father was an RAF engineer on 121 Squadron until about 1942 when USA joined WW2. He then got transferred to a night fighter squadron as 121 Squadron joined the USAAF.
I loved visiting England. England was quite friendly and I plan to return. The food in England was surprisingly pleasant. I especially enjoyed the canals in England.
I met some of these great gentlemen in 1992. We lived in The plough public house in Debden for many years and these men used to frequent the pub during the war. There was a book written about them by colonel James a Goodson and Norman franks called over paid, over sexed and over here. These gentlemen came to the pub for the book launch and to visit raf Debden. I sat and heard the story’s from these great men as a child. Andrew Lacy’s story touched me the most as it seemed to hard to comprehend as a young boy. Now I realize the importance of them and truly believe they were the greatest fighter wing in history. I still have the book which is signed personally by some of these men, one being Andrew and his wife I believe Mary lacy. Also William (bill) Spencer’s and some others. This video was great to watch as I knew all the contents before hand from reading the book as a child but this is very accurate to the book and my personal experience from chatting to some of these gents. Thank you for sharing this video
England? It was Britain. The guy in charge of Fighter command, and creator of the first interlinked Air defence system in the world .Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding was a Scot. The guy who invented Radar was also a Scot. If you are Scottish, Irish or Welsh, switch this guy off.
Really? That little detail makes this video irrelevant? I’m Scottish but Jesus calm down. This is about the Eagle Squadrons, not the correct terminology of Britain.
What you seem to conveniently forget is,the P51 was an RAF requirement,and until the merlin was fitted,the mustang was just an AVERAGE aircraft,the Merlin made the Mustang,one very good book to read is by Vern Haugland,called the Eagle squadrons.
Good engine, but it was extremely vulnerable in air combat due to the cooling system. You should listen to Greg's Airplanes videos for some perspective on Merlin engine development, it owed a lot to American engineering contributions of the Bendix-Stromberg carburetor to counteract negative g stalling, longer wearing crankshaft bearings and the 100 octane petrol the US brought, not to mention the mass production of the Packard Merlins on a scale and precision the Brits couldn't accomplish by hand-fitting components with wide tolerances. WWII was all about production, Rolls Royce acted like they were making luxury automobiles. The Mustang wasn't average, it was originally used as reconnaissance and ground attack, and the Allison engine had no supercharger and wasn't designed for high altitude performance. With the same Merlin engine, that average airframe was about 40mph faster than a Spitfire IX and could do for 7 hrs what a Spit could do for 1 hr, range was EVERYTHING as the fight moved farther into Europe
