to Favorites to Favorites from Favorites 0

Ten years after the end of the Gulf War, the public learned about the use of military equipment - “ghosts” to deceive the enemy and distract him from the location of important targets: infantry, trucks, tanks, artillery, aircraft... The list goes on for a long time and the methods that are now being found applications are increasingly complex, often making these copies more "real" than the original, which is also the target. But few people know that the creation of false targets is hundreds of years old and that we find the first mention of this in the history of antiquity! However, without going into deep antiquity, we will focus on decoy aircraft, which were manufactured and used in large quantities during the Second World War.

The most representative were Luftwaffe decoy planes, as the air force of the Third Reich saw the war from the first to the last day. The creation of "ghost planes" increased sharply in 1942, when the Allies intensified their bombing of German-occupied territories. These attacks led the Germans to the need to urgently manufacture decoy aircraft around airfields, designed to distract the enemy’s attention and very easily identifiable (lit buildings, aircraft, fake bombs left on the field, etc.). The remains of real aircraft (captured, unserviceable or considered obsolete) joined the ranks of these machines, doomed to remain on the ground forever. Below is a small selection of life-size models.

Probably the most beautiful "ghost plane" presented in this article: a fake Heinkel He 111 is inspected by a British officer on a field in Normandy, August 1944. The plane, although in poor condition, was later restored with great love for detail (IWM)

located at the Norwegian airfield Stavanger-Sola (Stavanger-Sola) decoy Ju 88 A, 1940. The code of this “ghost plane” “EI+A4” corresponds to the real military number of the machine tested in Rechlin! (DR)






three photographs of the production of a fake Ju 87 Stuka on a field in France, autumn 1940. The model was brought on a two-wheeled cart, placed on the outskirts of the forest, after which German identification marks were applied. From the air the fake looked perfect (DR)


This cute Bf 109 E (tail number - white "1") will never join its comrades in the background and will not participate in air patrol! But this is just a model made of wood and canvas... (DR)




the use of "ghost planes" would become an urgent necessity for the Germans in Normandy, especially given the omnipresence of Allied aircraft. The Bf 109 Jumo was "liberated" in August 1944. A fancy military number painted on the side; most likely it is “W5 + YV” (USAF)

in contrast, decoys could be placed at actual airfields to give the impression of an agricultural area. In this case, the hangars were disguised as farms. Looks like these wooden cows are good fun for a mechanic (DR)


a fine example of a fake airfield (Scheinflugplatz) "captured" by the Allies in Normandy. The control tower, the buildings, the plane (the remains of the He 111 in the background on the right) - everything is fake! Only the farmers in whose fields this happened were real... (IWM)


many real aircraft wrecks were also placed at decoy airfields, such as this crudely painted Curtiss H-75A; Normandy, summer 1944. This vehicle is either modification A-1 No. 14 (X-813) or modification A-2 No. 112 (U-013). Maybe readers know more? (IWM)


"Surprise! Who's there?" These jeeps "fell" on a squadron of fake Ju 88s scattered across a field in Epinay, 1944 (USAF)


nice shot with two (second in the background) fake Ju 88 A in Salon de Provence, late 1944. The "ghost plane" in the foreground, its tail dismantled, bore the military number "L2 + EE". Theoretically, the car should have belonged to the 2nd training aviation squadron (Lehrgeschwader 2) ... (USAF)


a cemetery of “ghost planes” that fell into the hands of the Allies, probably the Dijon area. The fuselage element on the right side of the photo corresponds to a Messerschmitt Bf 109 (USAF)


A "classic" decoy - a fake Ju 88 - was photographed in Aalborg (Denmark) at the end of the war (Mombek collection)


mock-up of a Messerschmitt 109 captured by units of the US 3rd Army near Ohrdruss in 1945. Purists will argue that the aircraft modifications (Jumo engine and two-bladed propeller) and markings are not suitable for this phase of the war, but who cares! The main thing is that the outline is suitable (USAF)

The First World War ended with the defeat of Germany. On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was concluded between Germany and the victorious countries, which summed up the results of this world war. One of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles was a ban on military aviation in Germany. Moreover, for six months after the signing of the treaty, the German aviation industry was prohibited from producing or importing aircraft (any kind!) and spare parts for them. However, German military circles did not abandon the idea of ​​​​recreating combat aviation. On June 15, 1920, Oberst General Hans von Seekt became the head of the military department (Truppenamt), which essentially performed the functions of the General Staff of the Reichswehr. He perfectly understood the importance of military aviation and knew that Germany would undoubtedly need it again in the future. Within the Reichswehr, von Seeckt created the Central Aviation Committee (Fliegerzentrale), which included 180 officers who had served in military aviation during the First World War. His main task was to compile reports that analyzed in detail all aspects of the air war. Among the officers of the committee were Walter Wever, who later became the first Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe, as well as Helmut Felmy, Hugo Sperrle, Albert Kesselring and Jürgen Stumpff, who served subsequently the positions of commanders of the Luftwaffe air fleets. On April 14, 1922, the Allies lifted the ban on aircraft production in Germany. At the same time, technical characteristics were clearly specified that German aircraft could not exceed. Top speed was limited to 177 km/h (110 mph), ceiling 4,876 meters (16 thousand feet), range 274 km (170 miles).

According to the Allies, such restrictions should have prevented the development of military aircraft in Germany. Compliance with these requirements was monitored by a special Allied military commission. Nevertheless, there were two sectors of German aviation that could easily develop even under Allied control. The first of these was gliding. Von Seecht appointed Hauptmann Kurt Student from the Central Aviation Committee responsible for this direction, who at the same time headed the semi-secret technical aviation department (Technisches Amt Luft) in the Reichswehr Armament Directorate (Heerewaffenamt). He did everything possible to support and develop interest in glider flying in Germany. The student, who participated in the First World War as a fighter pilot, was able to receive support among former military pilots and already in the summer of 1921 on the mountain slopes in the area of ​​​​Gersfeld, 94 km northeast of Frankfurt am Main, The first gliding competitions took place. They became the first spark that awakened mass interest in sports aviation, and a whole network of gliding clubs quickly began to be created in Germany.

The second sector was civil aviation, which continued to grow at a rapid pace. In 1921, Professor Hugo Junkers, who had previously designed and built the six-seat all-metal F13 aircraft, founded his own aviation transport company, Junkers-Luftverkehrs AG. This company made flights to China, which, in addition to commercial benefits, also provided very valuable experience for the future development of long-range bombers.

To circumvent the Allied restrictions, the production of Junkers aircraft was later organized at factories in Limhamm in Sweden, in Fili near Moscow in the USSR and in Angora in Turkey. In 1922, Ernst Heinkel founded his own aviation company in the town of Warnemünde, located on the coast of the Mecklenburg Bay a few kilometers north of Rostock. In the same year, in Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance, Dr. Claudius Dornier founded his own company on the basis of the old Zeppelin plant. Dornier seaplanes were also manufactured at foreign aircraft factories: in the Swiss Altenrheim, in the Italian Pisa, in the Japanese Kobe and in the Dutch Papendrecht.

In 1924, Professor Heinrich Fokke and Georg Wulf founded the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau aircraft manufacturing company in Bremen. Two years later, in 1926, the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke company was created in Augsburg, which was then transformed into the Messerschmitt AG company in 1938. Therefore, when in 1926 the Allies practically lifted all restrictions on the production of civil aircraft, it turned out that Germany already had a highly efficient aircraft industry. It made it possible to produce aircraft at such a rapid pace that no other country in Europe could afford it at that time.

Comments 1 : 03.01.2017 23:53 I quote the reader Major, forgive me for writing here, because I don’t remember on which thread we had a conversation about psychotropic drugs among the Germans. But looking for it would break the devil himself:/) On the Internet I came across a small note that the pilots’ diet included t .n.Fliegerschokolade, the ingredients of which included caffeine and... (like, theatrical pause:)) METHAMPHETAMINE!!!You were right - "Goering's chicks" were flying under the "stupidity"... Well, I guessed right)), it’s not for nothing that the fantastic number of German sorties seemed strange compared to our pilots and the Japanese

The air force plays one of the key roles during any war. Sometimes a timely sortie of aircraft can change the outcome of a battle. However, the air “machines” themselves will not do anything without competent pilots. Among these pilots there are also those who deserve the title of “ace pilot”, for the large number of destroyed enemy aircraft. Such pilots were in the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich.

1. Erich Hartmann

The most successful fighter pilot of Nazi Germany was Erich Hartmann. He is also recognized as the most successful pilot in the entire world history of aviation. Taking part in battles on the side of Germany, he made 1,404 combat missions, as a result of which he scored 352 victories over the enemy, most of them - 347 - were downed USSR aircraft. Eric won these victories while taking part in 802 battles with the enemy. Hartman shot down the last enemy aircraft on May 8, 1945.

Eric came from a middle-class family with two sons. The younger brother was also a Luftwaffe pilot. Eric's mother was also interested in aviation, and was among the first women to fly an airplane. The family even had a light plane, but it had to be sold due to lack of money in the family. Soon his mother set up a flight school, where Eric trained. Soon he becomes an instructor in the Hitler Youth.

In 1939 he entered the gymnasium in Korntal, where his sniper abilities were revealed, and at the end of his training he was an excellent fighter pilot. In the fall of 1942, after graduation, he was sent to the North Caucasus. Because of his youthful appearance, he received the nickname “Baby” among the pilots. Eric shot down the first enemy plane in November 1942, but the Battle of Kursk was the most effective for him; in September 1943, he had about ninety downed planes.

His victories were often questioned by the Luftwaffe and were rechecked three or four times, and during the flight he was followed by an observer plane. For his numerous victories, Hartmann was awarded the highest orders and medals in Germany. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. After the war he ended up in a Soviet camp, where he had to stay for ten years, after returning he served in the German aviation, and died in 1993.

2. Gerhard Barkhorn

The second place in the number of enemy aircraft shot down belongs to Gerhard Barkhorn. During his combat career, he flew more than 1,100 combat missions and destroyed 301 enemy aircraft, all of his effective missions during battles with the Soviet Union. Gerhard's flying career began after he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937.

He made his first flight as a fighter pilot in May 1940 while fighting in France. Barkhorn made his first successful flight in the Eastern direction in July 1941. From that moment on, he became the real “master of the sky.” And at the end of 1942, he already had 100 downed planes. After shooting down the 250th plane, Gerhard is awarded the Knight's Cross, later oak leaves and Swords are added to this award. However, he never received the highest award for shooting down three hundred planes - Diamonds to the Knight's Cross, since in the winter of 1945 he was transferred to the Western Front, which happened a couple of days after the downing of the three hundredth plane.

On the Western Front, he led JG 6, but did not make a single effective mission. In April, Barkhorn was transferred to a jet plane; he was soon wounded and captured by Allied forces, but was released in 1946. Soon he entered military service in Germany, where he remained until 1976. Gerhard Berkhorn died in 1983 as a result of a car accident.

3. Gunther Rall

The 52nd fighter squadron, where Hartmann and Barkhorn served, also served as the third-ranked ace pilot, Günter Rall. He flew a Misserschmitt, with personal number 13. Having completed 621 combat missions, Gunther was able to destroy 275 enemy aircraft, most in the Soviet direction and only three on the Western Front. His plane was shot down eight times, and the pilot himself was wounded three times.

Rall entered military service in 1936, and initially he joined an infantry regiment, but soon transferred to the Luftwaffe. He took part in the war from the beginning of the French campaign, and already in May 1940 he shot down the first Curtis -36 fighter; a couple of days later he already had two aircraft to his name. At the beginning of the summer of 1941, he received a transfer to the Eastern Front, and in November 1941, having already had 35 effective sorties to his name, he was seriously wounded. It took nine months to recover from the wound; after leaving the hospital, Rall received a knight's cross for 65 downed aircraft, and two months later the Oak Leaves from the hands of the Fuhrer were added to it for 100 victories.

A year later, in the summer of 1943, Gunther became the commander of the third group, and at the end of the summer he received the Swords to his Knight's Cross for 200 destroyed aircraft. In the spring, Gunther already had 273 aircraft shot down. In April, he was appointed commander of the second group in the air defense of the Third Reich, while in this position Günther shot down two more planes, and in mid-May 1944, while repelling the first mass raid of American fighters on the Reich oil industrial complex, Rall shot down his last plane. During this battle, the ace pilot was seriously injured, as a result of which he was prohibited from flying, so he transferred to the position of head of the fighter pilot school.

After the surrender of Germany, Gunther had to work in industry for some time, and later he entered service in the German aviation. While serving in the Air Force, he took part in the development of the F-104 fighter aircraft. Günter Rall's military career ended in 1975 as a member of the NATO military committee. Rall was the only German ace pilot to survive the 20th century, and died in 2009.

4. Otto Kittel

German fighter pilot Otto Kittel is fourth in the ranking of Luftwaffe aces. He had five hundred and eighty-three combat missions to his name with a total of 267 victories. It went down in the history of the Luftwaffe as the fighter that destroyed the largest number of Il-2s, a total of ninety-four aircraft. Kittel was born in the town of Kronsdorf, and in 1939 he entered the Luftwaffe, where he soon received the rank of non-commissioned officer. For the first time at the controls of a fighter aircraft, he participated in a battle in April 1941 in Yugoslavia, but Otto was plagued by failures, he was unable to shoot down enemy planes, and at the end of May the engine failed during a flight and Otto ejected.

From the first days of the opening of the Eastern Front, he was transferred there by the leadership. And just two days later he shot down his first two SB-2 aircraft. A couple of days later, two more Il-2s were shot down. For his achievements, shooting down 12 aircraft, at the end of 1941 he was nominated for the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class. In 1942 he was already flying as a wingman, and at the end of the year he had more than twenty successful attacks. In February 1943, he received the German Golden Cross for forty downed aircraft. In March 1943, during an air battle, the engine of his plane failed, and he landed it on the territory of the USSR near Lake Ilmen. To avoid being captured, Kittel walked more than sixty kilometers in the cold and forded a river, but still reached his troops.

In the fall of 1943, he was sent as an instructor to France, he already had 130 downed aircraft, but in 1944 he was returned to the Soviet direction. After his victory count reached 200 in the fall, he was sent on leave while already holding the rank of lieutenant. During his entire service, his plane was shot down by the enemy twice. At the beginning, 1945, in the Baltic states, he was shot down for the third time, the plane fell into a swamp, Kittel did not have time to eject, as he died in the air. For his victories he was awarded the German Golden Cross and the Knight's Cross with Swords and Oak Leaves.

5. Walter Nowotny

The top five German pilots are aces Walter Nowotny. His personal record is 258 aircraft shot down; for this he needed 442 sorties; 255 aircraft were shot down on the Eastern Front. His flying career began on a twin-engine bomber, later he was given control of a four-engine bomber, and shot down his last three aircraft in the Me.262 jet fighter. He is the first pilot in the history of aviation to shoot down 250 enemy aircraft. In his personal collection is the Knight's Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds.

Walter came from a family of employees; in 1939 he volunteered to join the Luftwaffe. Initially, he wanted to be a simple pilot, but he was recommended for training to become a fighter pilot. Between 1939 and 1941 he rose to the rank of major and served as commander of one of the fighter aviation units. Walter's first flights were unsuccessful, for which he even received the playful nickname "Quax", but he opened his personal account with three planes at once, but he himself was shot down, this happened in July 1941.

However, a year later he had fifty planes shot down, and in mid-1943 their number exceeded a hundred. It took Novotny his last hundred kills in just over seventy days, and by October 1944 he had set a record of 250 kills. Nowatny's last flight took place in November 1944. On this day, he received orders to intercept two United States bombers. It is not entirely clear what happened in the sky, so he shot down two enemy planes and reported that his plane was also on fire, the connection was lost, and the plane crashed near the town of Bramsche.

I offer my colleagues to read the introductory part from my book “The Devil's Dozen Luftwaffe Aces.” This material was written into the book at my request by Sergei Sidorenko Jr.

By 1939, Germany was fully prepared for revenge for the shame of the First World War. Aviation was especially proud, as it demonstrated convincing superiority over any enemy. The pilots - heirs to the traditions of the best aces of the last war - after the "Spanish triumph" and the victorious European "blitzkriegs" were surrounded by an aura of universal admiration and glory.
The definition of “ace” first appeared during the First World War - then an ace was called a pilot with five confirmed victories. This standard has been adopted by most states, except Germany. German pilots were considered aces only in overcoming the threshold of 10 enemy aircraft shot down. During World War II, Germany replaced the term "ace" with "expert". To gain the right to be called an “expert,” the pilot, first of all, had to demonstrate his professionalism in battle, and not shoot down as many enemy aircraft as possible. In terms of Allied standards, the Luftwaffe gave the world about 2,500 aces. The number of “experts” was much smaller - about 500.
What distinguished German pilots from pilots of other countries? Why is the number of their air victories disproportionately greater?

In past years, many materials have been published in foreign literature about the victories of the best Luftwaffe fighter pilots in the period 1939-1945. The much larger number of planes shot down by German pilots compared to Allied aviation pilots gave rise to persistent distrust of this fact not only on the part of aviation historians, but also by the participants in air battles themselves. At the end of the Second World War, a large number of Luftwaffe “experts” were taken to England, where specialists carefully compared their testimony about personal victories with the data and circumstances of their own losses. Until now, these protocols are classified.
As a result of research, especially recently, a significant part of aviation historians, even among former opponents of Nazi Germany, are increasingly convinced of the reality and plausibility of the victories of German fighter pilots. The British are known for their pedantic attitude towards recording victories and dividing them into half, quarter and even eighth. However, there is no reason to believe that if the allied aviation aces do not have such a number of downed aircraft to their credit, then the Germans cannot have this either.

The technical equipment, training and fighting spirit attributed to the Luftwaffe "experts" cannot sufficiently explain the huge number of their victories. One of the main factors that makes it possible to clarify this confusing problem can be the significant number of combat missions that German pilots made during the war, compared to Allied aviation pilots. The number of combat sorties, for example, that of Erich Hartmann, among allied aviation pilots has no analogues at all. He flew 1,400 combat missions and fought 800 air battles. Gerhard Barkhorn fought 1,100 fights. Günther Rall scored his 200th victory in his 555th combat mission. The result of Wilhelm Butz, who achieved 237 victories in his 455th combat mission, was surprising.
On the Allied side, the most active fighter pilots flew between 250 and 400 combat missions. Based on this fact alone, German pilots had a much better chance of winning (and being defeated!) in battle.
These data alone show that German “experts” spent tens of times more time in the air than their rivals on the other side of the front. They could not be recalled from the front after achieving a certain number of sorties, as was the case in American aviation. German ace pilots moved up the hierarchy very slowly, which meant that the war was long and difficult for them, so the more and more they flew, the better and better they became and, as a result, achieved a high level of professionalism inaccessible to others. In the Luftwaffe, the division of pilots into two categories was clearly visible: aces, making up 15-20% of the total number, and middle-class pilots, who were also very strong and practically not inferior in skill to the pilots of the allied aviation. There was also the “old guard of the Luftwaffe,” which had been forged for a long time in the crucible of the European sky, bombarded pilots, each of whom had 3-4 thousand flight hours. Most of them went through the school of war in Spain and consistently participated in all European conflicts. They knew the war down to the last detail and were in absolute command of their machines, so meeting them in the air was extremely dangerous for any enemy.

Due to their national mentality, the Germans strictly and unquestioningly carried out the orders of the command - zeal, multiplied by skill, made them the most dangerous rivals. Their motto is "victory or death." However, not everyone could obtain the right to be called an “expert”. Experienced fighter pilots, “experts,” generally have a special combination of personal qualities. He must have extraordinary endurance and excellent vision. The ability to accurately fire at an enemy indicates his training and sniper qualities. Only quick reaction and a sense of danger developed at the level of instinct can guarantee life in an air battle. Fluency in an aircraft helps you gain self-confidence in a combat situation and focus on the enemy's actions. The courage characteristic of infantry soldiers and officers is replaced in aviation by a more important quality - self-control. And although aggressiveness is an important character trait for a fighter pilot, it should not be allowed to prevail over vigilance. However, it cannot be said that these qualities were characteristic only of German pilots. The main differences were in tactics, techniques and methods of conducting air combat, the system for counting air victories, the number of sorties and the theater of operations. “It was easier to fight in the East. When the war began, the Russians were not ready for it, either technically or psychologically. They did not have such effective fighters as ours, our advantage was especially great in 1941-42. Closer to the middle of the Second World War war, in 1943-44, the Russians accumulated extensive experience in combat operations and they had vehicles that met the requirements of those days" (Günter Rall).

A very strong point of the German Air Force was tactics. Such recognized “experts” as Galland and Mölders have been working on its improvement since the Spanish War. They resolutely fought against the outdated tactical principles of the First World War and developed new techniques for conducting group and individual air combat that corresponded to the technical capabilities of the aircraft of their time. Unsurpassed individual combat tactician, Erich Hartmann. said: “In an air battle, you should remain unnoticed by the enemy for as long as possible. It is advisable to start an attack from the direction of the sun. After a rapid dive, you need to be behind and slightly below the enemy, so that he cannot see your plane from the cockpit. When approaching the enemy, you need to be extremely attentive, especially when attacking a bomber, fearing the tail gunner. It is important to open fire first - this will give a huge psychological advantage over the enemy. It is better to shoot in short bursts and preferably for sure.” And one more thing: “...the attack should be carried out in four stages: be the first to detect the enemy, assess the situation and take an advantageous position for a surprise attack, carry out the attack itself and try to quickly leave “... for a cup of coffee.” If the enemy is the first to find you, it is necessary to break away from him and (or) take a wait-and-see position, or even leave the battle."

After the war, the German aces themselves were looking for an answer to such a complex question: why did the Allied aviation pilots have a significant lag in the number of victories won? “The Americans, for example, considered an ace to be a pilot who had five downed planes in his combat account. Just think - five! For us, such a number, to put it mildly, was not a source of pride. How did German pilots manage to shoot down a hundred or more planes? the fact that we were looking for the enemy, and not he for us. It was a risky endeavor, but the end often justified the means. Many Americans flew fifty or more combat missions over German territory, but never shot down a single one of our planes. they couldn't even detect us. So the first thing we need to do is find the enemy. Constant combat missions allowed us to maintain our qualifications, and this was also the key to the success of the Luftwaffe. We often lacked experienced pilots, and therefore the number of sorties was much more than planned. The same Americans, having completed fifty flights, were sent back to the states as heroes. After several combat missions, the British returned home either for retraining or for examination in a hospital. But we were placed in more stringent conditions, and we had to take risks" (Günther Rall).
Walter Krupinski also recalled on this occasion: “American and English pilots, after completing their missions, returned to their homeland. Their lives were not exposed to the same danger that we or the Russians had to experience. Having completed a hundred flights, I only had to my credit two downed enemy planes. This suggests that I learned the basics of air combat rather slowly, but at the same time, I accumulated the necessary experience. After all, one does not become an ace right away, but gradually acquires combat skills in war... Later I trained myself. training for fighter pilots, which consisted of simply taking one of the newcomers with me on a mission. One of my students was Hartman, who later became a famous ace... Experience is of paramount importance for a fighter pilot...”

Actually, the problem is this: 104 German pilots have a record of 100 or more downed aircraft. Among them are Erich Hartmann (352 victories) and Gerhard Barkhorn (301), who showed absolutely phenomenal results. Moreover, Harmann and Barkhorn won all their victories on the Eastern Front. And they were no exception - Gunther Rall (275 victories), Otto Kittel (267), Walter Nowotny (258) - also fought on the Soviet-German front.

At the same time, the 7 best Soviet aces: Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Evstigneev, Vorozheikin, Glinka were able to overcome the bar of 50 downed enemy aircraft. For example, Three-time Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub destroyed 64 German aircraft in air battles (plus 2 American Mustangs shot down by mistake). Alexander Pokryshkin, a pilot about whom, according to legend, the Germans warned by radio: “Achtung! Pokryshkin in der Luft!”, chalked up “only” 59 aerial victories. The little-known Romanian ace Constantin Contacuzino has approximately the same number of victories (according to various sources, from 60 to 69). Another Romanian, Alexandru Serbanescu, shot down 47 aircraft on the Eastern Front (another 8 victories remained “unconfirmed”).

The situation is much worse for the Anglo-Saxons. The best aces were Marmaduke Pettle (about 50 victories, South Africa) and Richard Bong (40 victories, USA). In total, 19 British and American pilots managed to shoot down more than 30 enemy aircraft, while the British and Americans fought on the best fighters in the world: the inimitable P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning or the legendary Supermarine Spitfire! On the other hand, the best ace of the Royal Air Force did not have the opportunity to fight on such wonderful aircraft - Marmaduke Pettle won all his fifty victories, flying first on the old Gladiator biplane, and then on the clumsy Hurricane.
Against this background, the results of Finnish fighter aces look completely paradoxical: Ilmari Yutilainen shot down 94 aircraft, and Hans Wind - 75.

What conclusion can be drawn from all these numbers? What is the secret of the incredible performance of Luftwaffe fighters? Maybe the Germans simply didn’t know how to count?
The only thing that can be stated with a high degree of confidence is that the accounts of all aces, without exception, are inflated. Extolling the successes of the best fighters is a standard practice of state propaganda, which by definition cannot be honest.

German Meresyev and his "Stuka"

As an interesting example, I propose to consider the incredible story of bomber pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. This ace is less known than the legendary Erich Hartmann. Rudel practically did not participate in air battles; you will not find his name in the lists of the best fighters.
Rudel is famous for having flown 2,530 combat missions. He piloted the Junkers 87 dive bomber and at the end of the war took the helm of the Focke-Wulf 190. During his combat career, he destroyed 519 tanks, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, 800 trucks and cars, two cruisers, a destroyer, and seriously damaged the battleship Marat. In the air he shot down two Il-2 attack aircraft and seven fighters. He landed on enemy territory six times to rescue the crews of downed Junkers. The Soviet Union placed a reward of 100,000 rubles on the head of Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Just an example of a fascist

He was shot down 32 times by return fire from the ground. In the end, Rudel's leg was torn off, but the pilot continued to fly on a crutch until the end of the war. In 1948, he fled to Argentina, where he became friends with dictator Peron and organized a mountaineering club. Climbed the highest peak of the Andes - Aconcagua (7 kilometers). In 1953 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, continuing to talk nonsense about the revival of the Third Reich.
Without a doubt, this extraordinary and controversial pilot was a tough ace. But any person accustomed to thoughtfully analyzing events should have one important question: how was it established that Rudel destroyed exactly 519 tanks?

Of course, there were no photographic machine guns or cameras on the Junkers. The maximum that Rudel or his gunner-radio operator could notice: covering a column of armored vehicles, i.e. possible damage to tanks. The dive recovery speed of the Yu-87 is more than 600 km/h, the overload can reach 5g, in such conditions it is impossible to accurately see anything on the ground.
Since 1943, Rudel switched to the Yu-87G anti-tank attack aircraft. The characteristics of this "laptezhnika" are simply disgusting: max. speed in horizontal flight is 370 km/h, rate of climb is about 4 m/s. The main weapons of the aircraft were two VK37 cannons (caliber 37 mm, rate of fire 160 rounds/min), with only 12 (!) rounds of ammunition per barrel. Powerful guns installed in the wings, when firing, created a large turning moment and rocked the light aircraft so much that firing in bursts was pointless - only single sniper shots.

And here is a funny report on the results of field tests of the VYa-23 aircraft gun: in 6 flights on the Il-2, the pilots of the 245th assault air regiment, with a total consumption of 435 shells, achieved 46 hits in a tank column (10.6%). We must assume that in real combat conditions, under intense anti-aircraft fire, the results will be much worse. What is a German ace with 24 shells on board the Stuka!

Further, hitting a tank does not guarantee its defeat. An armor-piercing projectile (685 grams, 770 m/s), fired from a VK37 cannon, penetrated 25 mm of armor at an angle of 30° from the normal. When using sub-caliber ammunition, armor penetration increased by 1.5 times. Also, due to the aircraft’s own speed, armor penetration in reality was approximately another 5 mm greater. On the other hand, the thickness of the armored hull of Soviet tanks was less than 30-40 mm only in some projections, and it was impossible to dream of hitting a KV, IS or heavy self-propelled gun in the forehead or side.
In addition, breaking through armor does not always lead to the destruction of a tank. Trains with damaged armored vehicles regularly arrived in Tankograd and Nizhny Tagil, which were quickly restored and sent back to the front. And repairs to damaged rollers and chassis were carried out right on site. At this time, Hans-Ulrich Rudel drew himself another cross for the “destroyed” tank.

Another question for Rudel is related to his 2,530 combat missions. According to some reports, in the German bomber squadrons it was customary to count a difficult mission as an incentive for several combat missions. For example, captured captain Helmut Putz, commander of the 4th detachment of the 2nd group of the 27th bomber squadron, explained the following during interrogation: “... in combat conditions I managed to make 130-140 night sorties, and a number of sorties with a complex combat mission was counted towards me, like others, for 2-3 flights." (interrogation protocol dated June 17, 1943). Although it is possible that Helmut Putz, having been captured, lied, trying to reduce his contribution to the attacks on Soviet cities.

Hartmann against everyone

There is an opinion that ace pilots filled their accounts without any restrictions and fought “on their own,” being an exception to the rule. And the main work at the front was performed by semi-skilled pilots. This is a deep misconception: in a general sense, there are no “averagely qualified” pilots. There are either aces or their prey.
For example, let's take the legendary Normandy-Niemen air regiment, which fought on Yak-3 fighters. Of the 98 French pilots, 60 did not win a single victory, but the “selected” 17 pilots shot down 200 German planes in air battles (in total, the French regiment drove 273 planes with swastikas into the ground).
A similar picture was observed in the US 8th Air Force, where out of 5,000 fighter pilots, 2,900 did not achieve a single victory. Only 318 people recorded 5 or more downed aircraft.
American historian Mike Spike describes the same episode related to the actions of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front: “... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time, 60 of whom never shot down a single Russian aircraft.”
So, we found out that ace pilots are the main strength of the Air Force. But the question remains: what is the reason for the huge gap between the performance of the Luftwaffe aces and the pilots of the Anti-Hitler Coalition? Even if we split the incredible German bills in half?

One of the legends about the inconsistency of the large accounts of German aces is associated with an unusual system for counting downed aircraft: by the number of engines. Single-engine fighter - one plane shot down. Four-engine bomber - four aircraft shot down. Indeed, for pilots who fought in the West, a parallel score was introduced, in which for the destruction of a “Flying Fortress” flying in battle formation, the pilot was credited with 4 points, for a damaged bomber that “fell out” of the battle formation and became easy prey other fighters, the pilot was given 3 points, because He did the bulk of the work - fighting through the hurricane fire of "Flying Fortresses" is much more difficult than shooting down a damaged single aircraft. And so on: depending on the degree of participation of the pilot in the destruction of the 4-engine monster, he was awarded 1 or 2 points. What happened next with these reward points? They were probably somehow converted into Reichsmarks. But all this had nothing to do with the list of downed aircraft.

The most prosaic explanation for the Luftwaffe phenomenon: the Germans had no shortage of targets. Germany fought on all fronts with a numerical superiority of the enemy. The Germans had 2 main types of fighters: Messerschmitt 109 (34 thousand were produced from 1934 to 1945) and Focke-Wulf 190 (13 thousand fighter version and 6.5 thousand attack aircraft were produced) - a total of 48 thousand fighters.
At the same time, about 70 thousand Yaks, Lavochkins, I-16s and MiG-3s passed through the Red Army Air Force during the war years (excluding 10 thousand fighters delivered under Lend-Lease).
In the Western European theater of operations, Luftwaffe fighters were opposed by about 20 thousand Spitfires and 13 thousand Hurricanes and Tempests (this is how many vehicles served in the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945). How many more fighters did Britain receive under Lend-Lease?
Since 1943, American fighters appeared over Europe - thousands of Mustangs, P-38s and P-47s plowed the skies of the Reich, accompanying strategic bombers during raids. In 1944, during the Normandy landings, Allied aviation had a six-fold numerical superiority. “If there are camouflaged planes in the sky, it’s the Royal Air Force, if there are silver ones, it’s the US Air Force. If there are no planes in the sky, it’s the Luftwaffe,” German soldiers joked sadly. Where could British and American pilots get large bills under such conditions?
Another example - the most popular combat aircraft in the history of aviation was the Il-2 attack aircraft. During the war years, 36,154 attack aircraft were produced, of which 33,920 Ilovs entered the army. By May 1945, the Red Army Air Force included 3,585 Il-2s and Il-10s, and another 200 Il-2s were in naval aviation.

In a word, the Luftwaffe pilots did not have any superpowers. All their achievements can only be explained by the fact that there were many enemy aircraft in the air. The Allied fighter aces, on the contrary, needed time to detect the enemy - according to statistics, even the best Soviet pilots had an average of 1 air battle per 8 sorties: they simply could not meet the enemy in the sky!
On a cloudless day, from a distance of 5 km, a World War II fighter is visible like a fly on a window pane from the far corner of the room. In the absence of radar on aircraft, air combat was more of an unexpected coincidence than a regular event.
It is more objective to count the number of downed aircraft, taking into account the number of combat sorties of pilots. Viewed from this angle, Erich Hartmann's achievements fade: 1,400 sorties, 825 air combats and "only" 352 aircraft shot down. Walter Novotny has a much better figure: 442 sorties and 258 victories.

Friends congratulate Alexander Pokryshkin (far right) on receiving the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union

It is very interesting to trace how ace pilots began their careers. The legendary Pokryshkin, in his first combat missions, demonstrated aerobatic skill, audacity, flight intuition and sniper shooting. And the phenomenal ace Gerhard Barkhorn did not score a single victory in his first 119 missions, but he himself was shot down twice! Although there is an opinion that not everything went smoothly for Pokryshkin either: his first plane shot down was the Soviet Su-2.
In any case, Pokryshkin has his own advantage over the best German aces. Hartman was shot down fourteen times. Barkhorn - 9 times. Pokryshkin was never shot down! Another advantage of the Russian miracle hero: he won most of his victories in 1943. In 1944-45 Pokryshkin shot down only 6 German aircraft, focusing on training young personnel and managing the 9th Guards Air Division.

In conclusion, it is worth saying that you should not be so afraid of the high bills of Luftwaffe pilots. This, on the contrary, shows what a formidable enemy the Soviet Union defeated, and why Victory has such high value.