What percentage of OOC's were Actual victories?

Just a theoretical question to throw out there. I think that on this website we have lots of knowledgeable WW1 aviation buffs.
From all the threads that have dealt with the British scoring system, confirmed vs. unconfirmed victories, etc., what is your guess as to the percentage of OOC claims which resulted in actual victories? 50%? 25%? 10%/ 0%? Take a guess.
I think everyone will agree that many (most?) OOC claims were optimistic, but I also believe that every objective thinker would also agree that some claims really were completely valid.
This is totally unscientific. Just your educated guessimate.

[Soderbaum]

0 %

Because the British did NOT have any official victory systems...

Gunnar

Oh Gunnar, you are being picky! Come on, make a guess!

[Barrett]

The Answer of course is unknowable, but if you figure OPTIMISTICALLY that half of "confirmed kills" in the UK/US air arms were genuine, the ratio of smoking holes in the ground among OOCs was definitely single-digit. My guesstimate: 3%.
The absolute best record I've ever found among WW II combatants was a +30% error for a campaign, and that is unusual.

[rammjaeger]

>>...what is your guess as to the percentage of OOC claims which resulted in actual victories?<<

That depends on the definition of "actual victory". *:-/

Is it the strict German definition (loss of an air vehicle) or should we apply a lesser easy to count but not unjustified definition including wounded and dead airmen if the airplane was not lost.

VBR
Rammjaeger

[Soderbaum]

Ok Terry

I was probably to picky this time.....but to answer your question would take a lot of time counting, and in some cases estimating some factors...

However, no country involved in the War actually reported their a/c losses. In the best, they partly reported their losses of personal.
For the German we knew the exact number of killed and wounded pilots due enemy flyers. From that we can at the moment only estimate how many of these who actually led to a destroyed a/c....

I also dont remember the British amount of OOC, but I do have the total of French equivalente.
But Graeme perhaps said that the amount of British OOC was around 5000 ??
My guess is that less than 100 of these resulted in the destruction of the German a/c......so 2 %...

If you choice that the definition for a British victory(its a free choice)should include a German pilot which was put out of action for a long time or the reminder of the War you ought to raisen the percent to 4 % or higher......you can proceed this way to receive further heights...

So here you got some wild guesses
8)
Gunnar

Rammjaeger,For the purposes of this exercise I would say my definition would be a destroyed aircraft.
Gunnar, I would agree more or less with you. Perhaps 5% or less were "real" victories.

Hmm. Define 'Victory'? If you drive an enemy aircraft away from its operational area, thereby foiling the enemy's plan and frustrating his purpose, that is a victory in itself.
If your intent is to destroy the plane in the air, or on the ground, and do so, that is a victory, too.
An observation plane driven down out of control can set the foe back days. Victory,or success?
I think a victory is different to scalp hunting.

[rammjaeger]

The question raised in this thread needes the clarification about which kind (or definition) of victory we are speaking here. Otherwise the replies could include a very wide range of answers because of the different understanding of the term. Nobody demanded that Terry is giving the ultimative definition of a victory. It was simply a request to clarify the term.

BTW why do you wish to take a scalp if you can get the whole head?

[Billy_Bishop]

Actually, ALL OOC type victories were ACTUAL victories.

Remember the dicta Tillman, a "kill" is always a victory, but a victory isn't always a kill. 8)

VBR,

Al Lowe