the raw numbers

[rakinroll]

Originally Posted by Furio

I can’t dispute how historians determined that approximately 15.000 German aircraft were lost on Eastern Front. Counting only the major types, Luftwaffe fielded no less than 90.000 planes during the war.
The vast majority was obviously destroyed or damaged beyond repair in air combat or on the ground, or captured by advancing ground forces. A sizable part was certainly lost in non-combat related accidents, while really few, if any, planes managed to reach the end of their service life.
Guessing numbers is obviously difficult, but some estimates can reasonably be reached.
Counting as 20% of total the non combat-related losses, Luftwaffe lost at least 70.000 aircraft. The majority of those losses was on the Eastern Front. If I’m not grossly wrong, that number should be not lower than 40.000.

Pfff...