World War I flying aces by number of victories

An ace is a military aviator or airman credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.

[jbthor]

Did you ever here of Kenneth Porter. He was my mothers uncle. He fought in WW1 as a pilot. WW1 flying ACE. I'm his grand nephew. I remember him growing and used to tell stories .

[liviocaruso]

Excuse me, but Italian Francesco Baracca?

[roberthudson]

The German Army did not use the term "ace." A German pilot with 10 victories, not five, was a "kanone."

[sopwithsnoopy]

They list Franz Buchner as dying in 1991. He died in 1920. 🤦‍♂️
Josef Jacobs was the last Pour le Merite ace to pass away, in 1978. (Not sure if he was the last aviation Pour le Merite winner to pass, but he was the last ace)

[MultiDivebomber]

Many of the survivors died quite young in 1920's

[mikeking]

Looks like most of these aces did not survive the war.

[claudiomagi]

Il più grande il Barone Rosso! Rispetto per lui ❤

[ClaudeMagicbox]

How did the Australian guy fly all the way to Europe on a WW1 biplane??
(joke)

[Anakin-pw]

And where are the Italians Francesco BARACCA and Silvio SCARONI?

[oliverhughes]

Lot of them died in the 20s. I guess mostly sickness?

[gwine]

I was surprised at how many Canadians were there.

[jeffblacky]

I see a lot of angry comments

So the interesting thing about French and UK

If 4 pilots shot at and damaged, then the plane falls, all involved gets same credit

This is why you see credit like
4 solo, 1 shared victory, 2 probable, 1 damaged

The UK are a prime example of this in both World Wars

The French is the same except they don’t count damaged or probably destroyed

So in context you can be an ace in the French system with damage to 5 aircraft with 2 others and send it in flames
5 different engaged aircraft

UK can make ace with 5 shared victories and 1 probable

Germans are more restricted in their credits
Except men like Goring fudge the claims
He is only with research is fully credited with 10 from his 22 claims

Fonch was a selfish pilot and doesn’t engage in dog fights with other pilots
His narcissistic personality doesn’t allow it
He makes sure all his victories count to him only
And it is believed only 3 of his kills might be shared ( his early combat days )
Only 3 of the Baron’s kills doesn’t match with losses ( believing to be either Belgian or possibly other nations)

[dr.med.detlefkohler]

Büchner is not the Büchner you think he was!

[DaDoM]

Wrong flag for Britain thats the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain not the UK

[gothia]

Funny how all entente victories combined are probably even more than planes build by the central powers ;)

[philippevalois]

The Ace of Aces is René Fonck: 75 sure victories but 126 probable. Richtoffen 80 sure victories, 83 probable.