[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Juha

Thanks a lot Nikita for the info You gave.

Rudorffer’s case is rather well known and I have been long time skeptical on Lang’s Nov 3rd record, it’s timing was so perfect for German propaganda machine. Of course it could have been a pure coincidence, but anyway that kind of coincidences made one suspious. Also Caldwell in his JG 26 War Diary writes that Lang, who he recognises as a great combat leader and a great fighter pilot, tended to exaggerate his claims.


I also think that in the end much depends on the personality of the claimant, his integrity and ability to remain cool and to be able to observe the situation objectively under great stress. The self-confidence, which is an important element to a fighter pilot in a way works against objective assessment of his own actions. And of course very important is the nature of actions. It's much easier to claim accurately against lonely recon a/c than in big fighter vs fighter combats, especially if one's side is the underdog.

Several years ago, a reader in another forum said that Hannu Voltonen researched available statistics and reported that Finnish and Luftwaffe pilots had inflated their aerial victories by (at least) 3 to 1 in 1944.

I have heard this author's name come up occasionally, but I don't know the specific reference source quoted from. Does Valtonen have anything available in English?