Ace v. Ace

Balloon_Buster · 28 August 2006, 12:42 PM

I was wondering- how many times were there Ace v Ace encounters? My old defunct "Flying Corps" game had an option called "All the Aces" which had famous aces from both sides pitted against each other. Which makes me wonder- how many times did a famous ace actually meet up with another one? One is Voss v McCudden et al in Voss's last flight, and Von Richtofen v Hawker early in MvR's career.

What other A v A engagements took place, and when, if known?

Thanks!

Barrett · 28 August 2006, 12:59 PM

Who Downed The Aces of WW I? by Norman Franks.

lonestarson · 28 August 2006, 11:36 PM

James McCudden may actually have been credited to

Manfred von Richthofen as a "kill". McCudden describes a fight in which he had to spin down from 10,000 feet to 800 feet to escape a German pilot. He was flying a DH2. That same day Richthofen was credited with a DH2 which he says spun down several thousand feet and crashed. Perhaps he just assumed it crashed. The details are in the book

Under the Guns of the Red Baron.

Pips · 29 August 2006, 12:28 AM

BB, the book Barrett mentions is a excellent read. It's quite surprising just how many aces were knocked down by other aces.

Balloon_Buster · 29 August 2006, 06:39 PM

I will check it out! But I was also curious about cases where one ace maybe didn't down the other one. I read about a supposed Guynemer v Udet case, Bishop v MvR case, and a McCudden v Voss years prior to the Tripe fight.

crankcase · 29 August 2006, 07:21 PM

Lothar was credited with

Albert Ball's downing...

and if you are interested in strings of ace vs ace vs ace... RM Foster was downed by Voss (unconfirmed) who was downed by Rhys-Davids who was downed by Gallwitz... all were aces. i guess we would have to run a computer program to find the longest string.

crankcase