German fighter pilot who flew the most combat missions?

[krichter33]

Thanks for the reply. 825 combat missions makes a lot more sense. Is Barkhorn, then, the Luftwaffe jagdflieger who flew the most combat missions, or is there someone else?

[Csaba B. Stenge]

krichter33,

To me, 1400+ combat sorties sounds certainly impossible by Hartmann, I agree with Ota. Just look for a similar pilot, who joined JG 52 just a bit later, than Hartmann, Helmut Lipfert. His career is well documented by the remained contemporary sources and he logged less, than 700 combat sorties. It is simply impossible to fly more, than twice in the same period by a similar pilot in the same unit. (Lipfert was an instructor for a while but still - they both were not hospitalized for a long time or whatever).

Possible it was Barkhorn, who flew the most sorties among German fighter pilots. Among Schlachtfliegers, many of them breached the 1000 sortie mark, partly with Fw 190s (I suppose one of them, Willi Noller is still with us).

[kennethklee]

I agree Hartmann's 1400 flights seem incredible for the duration of his combat career. However, I understand that on at least some days, especially in active ground combat zones, pilots flew 2 or 3 sorties in one day. If true, could this account for Hartmann's high total? Of course, his contemporaries who started with or soon after Hartmann's combat start date should have similar flight totals, as another poster has astutely pointed out.

Ken

Originally Posted by Csaba B. Stenge

krichter33,

To me, 1400+ combat sorties sounds certainly impossible by Hartmann, I agree with Ota. Just look for a similar pilot, who joined JG 52 just a bit later, than Hartmann, Helmut Lipfert. His career is well documented by the remained contemporary sources and he logged less, than 700 combat sorties. It is simply impossible to fly more, than twice in the same period by a similar pilot in the same unit. (Lipfert was an instructor for a while but still - they both were not hospitalized for a long time or whatever).

Possible it was Barkhorn, who flew the most sorties among German fighter pilots. Among Schlachtfliegers, many of them breached the 1000 sortie mark, partly with Fw 190s (I suppose one of them, Willi Noller is still with us).