Joe Foss

[bobbysamd]

Bob Hoover and Ted Williams

I am 99.99% sure that Bob Hoover was a WWII ace. But I can't find any documentation.

I realize that Ted Williams passed on this past year, but he was no slouch as a fighter pilot. He flew Corsairs in WWII, and Furies (Navy/Marine F-86s) or something in Korea as John Glenn's wingman.

Actually, the T-33 was an F-80 derivative, as was the F-94 and one or two other Skunk Works creations.

 

[flywithastick]

Bob Hoover flew in WWII earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, was shot down, imprisoned, managed to escape and steal a German plane to get back across the lines.

 

[B52GUNNER]

No the last ace was in vietnam. I think it was Steve Ritchie. He was the only USAF Ace. Randy Cunningham was a Navy Ace in Vietnam. There was also Robin Olds. He was an Ace in WWII (12 kills in WWII) and then shot down 4 in Vietnam. He was 1 kill short of being a double ace (prop and Jet).

There were 40 American Aces in Korea. The top Ace of Korea was Joe McConnell with 16 kills.

Just to throw in .....B-52 Tail gunners had two confirmed MiG kills in Vietnam. Sam Turner got the first one ... Al Moore got the other one. There were a few unconfirmed ones too.


C'est La Vie

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Good point on old Teddy Ballgame by Bobbysam! John Glenn said he was the best pilot he ever flew with. One hell of a compliment. The guy was also apparently a great fisherman. He did ok hitting a baseball as well.

There was another fellow, last name Johnson who died in SC last year who had over 20 kills in WWII but I can't recall his name. Maybe someone else here knows......


Mr. I.

 

[Geigo]

Don't know If he's an ace but...

There's a guy in the town I grew up in that flew fighter/photgraphic in F6F's. I never asked about how many kills he has, but the stories he tells are the real treasure.

So many young people today don't know anything other than there was a war. Look at Jay Leno's Jaywalking and things like that. Having personal accounts makes so much of a difference in understanding what & how things were done at that time.

He's told me stories of turning a carrier (the Enterprise I think) around in a Typhoon. One story I have used to teach about W&B was his A/C had an extra 400lbs of camera equipment making the CG further aft than any other. For some reason that aircraft would stall out if he did the normal climbing right turn to clear the deck after takeoff. So he would go straight ahead and let it drop some to build up airspeed. One day someone else had to fly his plane and did the standard climbing right turn. About 100 feet it stalled and spun in..the pilot never got out.

He is still in good shape and has a very sharp mind. If anybody else knows people like this I would encourage them to try and tape these people while we still can.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Are there any post Vietnam aces?

It's not easy to become an ace anymore. Conflicts donlt last very long, and most of the people we fight don't have that many airplanes to begin with!

Unless I'm mistaken, the definition of "ace" changed between W.W. I and W.W. II. Didn't it used to be ten kills, then went down to five? Maybe we should do it again to take into account changes in technology and politics: anybody who shoots down more than one airplane in the same conflict is an ace.

 

[Salty Dog]

I just read the story on this not too long ago but can't find it now. I think the definition changed back in WWI because the word came from being the record holder. The record at that point was 4 so the next "record" was 5. Obviously the next "Ace" would have to be six, but shortly (still in WWI) the conventional wisdom settled on 5. Doesn't matter where or when, just every 5 kills makes you an Ace, Double Ace, etc.