Template:List of World War I flying aces/Page top
The term "ace" (now commonly flying ace) was first used by French newspapers during World War I, describing Adolphe Pegoud as l'as (the ace), after he downed five German aircraft.[1] At the beginning of World War I air combat had not been invented, aircraft were for reconnaissance only.[2] When aircraft began to shoot or force down other aircraft, systems to count "air victories" were subsequently developed.[3]
In the early stages of military aviation, different air services had different methods of assigning credit for aerial victories, and he actual number of air victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied. The Germans, who did not use the term 'ace' but referred to German pilots who had achieved 10 kills as Überkanone (big gun), gave credit to a single pilot with each downing of a particular enemy aircraft, and then only after visual verification of the wreckage of the fallen craft or its occupant(s).[4]
The French Armee de l'Air system also only counted aircraft destroyed, but granted full credit to every pilot or aerial gunner participating in a victory, which could sometimes be several individuals.[5][6] Most other nations (including the United States) adopted the French system.
British aircraft often fought over German territory, and could not follow the German practice of visual verification of the wreckage of the fallen craft or its occupant(s).[7] Also, early fighting often only resulted in an opponent being forced to retreat or land ("driven down") within its own territory. Therefore, British practice awarded credit for combats endorsed as "decisive" by the commanding officer of his squadron; this could include German planes "driven down" or aircraft last seen "out of control" but not verified to have crashed.[8][9] Russian scores sometimes reflected defeats without destruction of the foe.[10] The term "ace" was never used officially by the British.
None of these scoring systems was ironclad; they were all subject to flux.[11]
Composition of ace population
While "ace" status was generally won only by fighter pilots, bomber and reconnaissance crews on both sides also destroyed enemy aircraft, typically in defending themselves from fighter attack. An observer usually had a machine gun or guns mounted pointing rearwards that could be used for defense, in addition to the forward firing guns available to the pilot.
There were also some two seated fighter aircraft, most renowned of which was the Bristol F.2b (Bristol Fighter). Pilots and gunners aboard these aircraft usually had differing scores. Additionally, because pilots usually teamed with differing observer/gunners in two seater aircraft, an observer might be an ace when his pilot was not, or vice versa.
Observer aces are a sizable minority in the list below.
The scores presented below cannot be definitive, but are based on best available sources of information.
There are 1,860 known aces from World War I.[12]
| Name | Country | Air Service(s) | Victories | Notes
References
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