[Smithy]

Hi Leendert,

Mike Spick looked into this in "The Ace Factor" stating that in nearly all aerial conflicts 5% of pilots were responsible for 40% of the "kills". Whether that figure is absolutely watertight I can't say but I'd imagine that it's in the right kind of ballpark. If you look at any fighter unit there's always a small cadre of pilots who are responsible for most of the victories or killing. How effective they were at "killing" was based in no small part on how cohesive that cadre could operate, and that came down to tactics and the ability of other pilots in their unit. A fighter formation is the same as any other military formation in combat, unit cohesion determines how effectively it can operate. And with a fighter unit or formation good unit cohesion gives more opportunity and support for that core cadre of "scoring" pilots to make kills.

Cheers,

Tim