best non fighter pilots

[Juha Tompuri]

Hi!

My sources (Swedish "Marine Kalender 1950") states Oktjabrskaja Revolutsia to be the only operative battleship at Baltic Sea at that time.

Regards, Juha

[Juancho]

Hans Ulrich Rudel

Someone explained before, and he has a book. Try to get it!

(Sorry, forgot the title of the book)

Regards,

Juan

[gabriel pagliarani]

October, 18, 1940.
Three Savoia-Marchetti SM-82B long range bombers Took off from Ciampino airport each carrying a 1500 kg bomb load ( incendiary and high explosive 15, 20 and 50 kg bombs).
The pilots were colonel Ettore Muti ( the leader for the raid), colonel Fortunato Federici and captain Giorgio Meyer.
The take-off was very difficult because of the high weight on each aircraft ( 19500 kg) that had to be overcome by the full power of the engines, the result is usually a "torque" on the bomber and a spin opposed to the propellers.
The three officers were excellent pilots , colonel Muti had experimented a take-off with a 21300 kg SM-82!.
The three bombers directed to south-east over Cyprus, Syria, Irak to Barhein island in Persian Gulf and bombed Manama petrol storages and refineries , then crossed the Arabian desert and landed at Zula in Italian Erithrea.
The allied couldn't imagine that italian bombers could have such a range so the raid was completely unaspected , the refineries were not darkened.
The bombers took 15 hours 30 minutes to fly 4200 km mostly on the desert without mechanical problems.
Ettore Muti projected in 1943 to bomb again Manama and Bushira refineries with 12 SM-82 or with the bomber variant of the four engine floatplane CANT-Z-511.

If I well remember, the most surprising feature in Ettore Muti "oil-raid" was the fast refuelling of those bombers when landed successfully in the middle of British Sahara not far from Karthoum thousands miles behind enemy lines. Such a refuelling operation was done by special ground intruders of Regia Aeronautica.

[gabriel pagliarani]

Without a doubt, Hans Ulrich Rudel was the most successful bomber pilot, as far as I'm concerned, in the whole of World War II.

519 tanks
1 battleship
1 destroyer
800 motorized vehicles
70 landing boats
150 AA's and AT'S
9 air victories

Regards,
Germanica

Having downed (..at least...) 9 foe planes Major Rudel must be considered also a fighter-ace! Bomber was only the plane (..before riding a Stuka-kanone..) that pilot was simply more destructive than the Incredible Hulk. What is your doubt?

[Grünherz]

Without a doubt, Hans Ulrich Rudel was the most successful bomber pilot, as far as I'm concerned, in the whole of World War II.

519 tanks
1 battleship
1 destroyer
800 motorized vehicles
70 landing boats
150 AA's and AT'S
9 air victories

Regards,
Germanica

Having downed (..at least...) 9 foe planes Major Rudel must be considered also a fighter-ace! Bomber was only the plane (..before riding a Stuka-kanone..) that pilot was simply more destructive than the Incredible Hulk. What is your doubt?

He must be the best "non-fighter" pilot. Who else? If you're talking about a "group" of non-fighter pilotS, well, that can be argued. B-17, B-24, etc., etc., etc.. I read in Saburo Sakai's book about some amazingly brave "Betty" (U.S. code) pilots. Heck, all those guys were!! I couldn't single out the "best" non-fighter pilotS.
My father's pilot in a TBF Avenger won the Navy Cross.
Tom