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Re: German fighter pilot who flew the most combat missions?
Hello krichter33,
Hartmann´s alleged total of 1404 combat flights is almost certainly not correct and might be a confusion with a total of flights flown by him by 8 May 1945, including training etc. I´d say that there are at least two hints that lead to 825 as stated e.g. in Obermaier´s Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Jagdflieger 1939 - 1945:
- According to Toliver + Constable´s Holt Hartmann vom Himmel Erich Hartmann claimed his 150th victory on 13 December 1943 during his 391st combat flight (this information should come from his 1st logbook that survived the war), than means 391 combat flights in some 14 months. It is hard to believe that he managed to fly next 1000+ combat flights in the following 17 months till the war´s and (and that in these hypothetical 1000 sorties he would add "only" 202 more claims) - moreover several Hartmann´s Flugverbote and home leaves took place during 1944-1945 period.
- Other JG 52´s high-scoring Experten who commenced their combat careers just a little later than Hartmann and spent similar time in combat on the Eastern Front (such as Lipfert, Batz, Wolfrum...) have their sortie totals well within 400 - 700 range.
Hope this helps,
Ota
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