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Re: Hartmann: claims vs. victories
Perhaps we will never have a full and correct explanation to some pilots' overclaiming habit. What I know for sure, is that the very same soviet combat records support some pilots claims with crazy accuracy, but disproof others in a shocking scale. This tells me that the soviet records (back then and there, while the war was still going on) were authentic and fine, the problem is with some pilots' claims. Honestly, now, as I go through all records again for eg. Lipfert in deep analysis, I just laugh when I see the minor differences between his claims and the soviet verified losses. Very often only 0, 2, or 5 minutes difference in claim times; Lipfert was crazy sharp! Calculating the 2 hrs Moscow and local time difference, the remaining time is very often only 0 - 2 - 5 minutes! Certainly we can take into consideration what was written down. If Hartmann's records were wrong, even if he really shot down a plane, we cannot verify his claim. I think that between 90-100% and only 25-30% accuracies there are BIG differences!
Gabor
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