Who had better pilots, Germans or English/French

Who had better pilots and planes overall? The Germans or their opponents. Personally, I think the Germans had it all. (Except for,well... the raw materials, the industry, the petrol supplies, and unending reservoir of recruits. Nonetheless, their pilots and planes all around, proved to be better than those of the opposing powers. Now, your thoughts...

[Darryl]

My thoughts on the matter?

I think I'll have a drink, a little lie down and read a good book.

Darryl

It was the Good Ol' U S of A, dadgummit!!!
From 1903 to 1917 we didn't lose ONE SINGLE AIRCRAFT to enemy action. That's a marvelous feat, IMNSHO.

This question should be forwarded to America's new great hope, the recently declared candidate for US Senator from the state of New York, Miss Hillary. Said candidate is so astute and well-versed with all importatnt issues, rest assured the answer to this question will be well-handled by her. Undoubtedly the Dept. of Education will need to be consulted and will require additional funding, but an appropriate answer will be proposed. My guess is that the answer will involve the recognition of and respect for the diversity of all peoples involved in the conflict, and that if her visions for the world had been followed by the leaders of the time, the question would not need to be raised as the conflict would never have arisen.

[Lufbery]

Le Petit Rouge,

Let me be the first to try to answer your questions seriously (although I like Mike's answer, *grin*).

The problem with the question is that it fails to take into account the broad, sweeping changes that occurred during the war. It also fails to take into account the different tactics used by each side.

For example, at times during the war, the Germans would not fly very far across their lines. This meant that they suffered fewer losses because a damaged German aircraft had a better chance to get to friendly territory.

Also, technological advantage see-sawed throughout the war. Sometimes the Germans had the upper hand, sometimes the Allies did.

That being said, it does seem to me that the Germans had more aces with higher scores than the allies. Aside from the fact that victory claims are a point of contention, you can't really extrapolate this fact to mean that the Germans had better pilots overall.

-Drew

Canadians did...do the numbers.

Yes i'm serious.

[mike_baram]

Kory's answer was the type I'd have expected from Al.
Hmmmmmm.....
Has anyone ever seen both of them on the same stage together?????

Drew

I definately see what you're saying, and I agree.
Thanks

[rammjaeger]

I am refering to only one side of the "being better"-question: the training of pilots/airmen.
After comparing the training on the British and on the German side I am claiming the Germans had the better training but the quality was sinking since fall 1917. The Brits increased their quality with the GOSPORT-system. The Canadians were better trained than the average of the pilots of the Empire. Can not tell anything about the French training. Did somebody see an article about the French training?

[Reinout]

I agree with the notion that that the comparison goes awry unless heavy criteria are set. And those criteria might well prove elusive!

I have to say that a sizeable part of the German scout pilots first experienced combat and flight in 2-seaters. That gave them an upper hand in plane control and experience both in and out of combat; undoubtedly this raised their overall quality as fighter pilots compared to the ones who were sent directly to scout units.

As a last note, while German pilots had more targets which is always good for bagging more victories, it also entails that the survival chances are reduced. They didn't have the opportunity to leave the front as they desired or when it was necessary: in general (and this is even more true in WWII), they fought until wounded, killed or taken prisoner (some were promoted away from combat of course).

Kind regards,

Reinout