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Originally Posted by Frequent_Flyer
Well said, but you won't convince the goofs on this forum. More Luftwaffe Aces were lost to western allies than the east, in fact the Luftwaffe suffered more losses in total to the west. In addition, the Luftwaffe fought over the own territory for nearly the whole western conflict. Once the Luftwaffe had to face superior aircraft and better pilots of the west, they were exposed .
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I'm sorry man, but that sounds a bit biased. You're not keeping into account the sheer imbalance in numbers: the USAAF only could put up 10 to 50 times more planes than the Luftwaffe. Despite these tremendous numbers, there still are circa 100 German pilots with at least 100 kills in their combat career. Considering the conditions in which they fought, with inferior machines, lower numbers and difficult logistics, saying that the Allies had better pilots is ludicrous to say the least.
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The best pilots of the war were in the pacific. Fighting in much more difficult weather conditions over far larger distances, most of it being water( any one who has actually piloted a small craft over nothing but water can imagine the difficulty faced by pilots who were engaged in combat,disoreinted, low on fuel maybe wounded and needed to find your aircraft carrier with the navigational equipment used in the 1940's) . Landing and taking off of a carrier in good weather during daylight hours takes more skill than anything the Luftwaffe ever faced. Than try it in poor weather at night with little or no fuel as was the case for the USN in a number of engagements. This is to say nothing of the navigational skill needed a bit more challenging than flying barely past the border of your own country. Where if you bailed out there was a good chance you would rejoin your own unit by morning. In the Pacific , if you left your aircraft you more than likely were not seen from again.
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I would say that the worst conditions were in the Pacific, but the best pilots is based on what assumptions? Pacific pilots didn't have to face enormous flak barrages, being bounced by skilled wolfpacks etc.. sure, the conditions were harsher and the odds of surviving smaller if shot down over the sea, but this doesn't make them better pilots. As per navigation skills, they all relied on the same training and methods, if anything it's easier to navigate at sea because you can rely on good instruments or star navigation, and make less errors by spotting landmarks and confusing them with something else.
10-28-2011, 10:45 AM
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