Fri Apr 03, 2009 6:38 am
John Dupre wrote:Capt. Charles B. "Chuck" DeBellevue United States Air Force 6
LT Randall "Duke" Cunningham United States Navy 5
LTJG William P. Driscoll United States Navy 5
Capt. Steve Ritchie United States Air Force 5
Capt. Jeff Feinstein United States Air Force 5
There are 26 victories credited in this list. How many aircraft were actually destroyed by these men?
The total is 16 since all of Cunningham's kills were shared with Driscoll and Ritchies 5 kills were shared with DeBellevue (4) and Feinstein (1) In this list 2 of DeBellevue's and 4 of Feinstein's victories are not combined with a pilot but would be if the list was expanded to include other victorious pilots
Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:16 am
Ive got every US Vietnam era ace signed my books from Vietnam bar Cunningham.
I have a few single mig killers and even Robin Olds signature.
I have a few rarer things in my collection that some people will never see too.
I have a few single mig killers and even Robin Olds signature.
I have a few rarer things in my collection that some people will never see too.
Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:18 am
I bought a print signed by Erich Hartmann , I figured 352 kills was never going to be topped by anyone soon
Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:03 am
John Dupre wrote:When you consider the Israelis were using and facing many of the same aircraft but with a different tactical mind set they had a far better kill ratio and number of aces than the US did.
The Israeli AF's kill ratio has significantly more to do with the caliber of their opponents than their organizational mindset.
Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:29 am
Wasn't Gabby Gabreski a Korea ace? 
Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:29 pm
Randy Haskin wrote:John Dupre wrote:When you consider the Israelis were using and facing many of the same aircraft but with a different tactical mind set they had a far better kill ratio and number of aces than the US did.
The Israeli AF's kill ratio has significantly more to do with the caliber of their opponents than their organizational mindset.
I am sure that the quality of the opposition goes a long way toward the Israeli success but my point is that the Israelis realized that air combat was going to be a big part of their military experience and trained appropriately. The USAF and USN trained as if they would never see air combat manuevering again and paid a price the Israelis didn't pay. Apparently only the USN realized the extent of their failure during the war and thus begat Top Gun.
Gabby
Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:11 pm
Gabreski was credited with 61/2 kills in Korea.
Hugh
Hugh