THE FLYING ACE

Many aces were wounded to some extent, and returned to the fight after convalescing or were incapacitated completely and invalided home. The Red Baron, Manfred von Richtofen, was severely wounded at least once. http://www.richthofen.com/ This partial autobiography was written before his wounds.

So how many pilots have entered this elite fraternity and become aces? Bowers and Lednicer again, state that they 'believe' that there have been between 5,470 and 10,035; from the advent of flight to now. That's a lot of guys! (And at least two women!) Their site lists about 3,360 aces by name, from all wars, with their best estimate of their individual scores. They also give their sources, so if you're really into self abuse, you could dig into the primary documents.

Fighter pilots are, and always have been, aggressive. They learn self confidence on the job, if they don't have it already. They operate as members of a team, but at the same time, they're alone in the cockpit. There's no one there to help with problems if they get separated from their flight. There's no help if they have mechanical problems, and first aid has to wait until they land. Aces overcome these problems better than other pilots. They capitalize on their abilities, training and luck to excel.

Let's hear it for aces. They've reached the pinnacle of their profession.

http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/aces.htm Carries a selection of stories about various aces from around the world. Not professional writers, but not at all bad.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/contrib/cd.h... A discussion of the various scoring systems and primary documentation for research.

And of course, Amazon.com has a wide variety of books on air war, to include books by and about aces.

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