Erich Hartmann
Luftwaffe
ETO
Pilot
1942
Dragon 70072

The thought of an aviator actually downing 80 planes was totally unimaginable in the early days of aerial combat. When the Red Baron did that in World War I many people thought it was a record that would never be broken. With the outbreak of World War II, the seemingly unattainable 80 kills soon fell by the way side as German pilots reached totals of over 100kills. The first pilot to reach this lofty goal of 100 kills, was German ace Werner Molders. He managed to down 101 planes before he himself died in a plane crash. Many German pilots reached the 100 kill level, 15 reached 200 or more, and 2 scored 300 or more aerial victories. Of these two, only one pilot in history reached the lofty goal of 352, Erich Hartmann. Erich Hartmann did fly nearly all of his missions against the Russians on the eastern front, but he also flew against the Americans over Rumania, downing 6 P-51D Mustangs. He is also rumored to have downed several Hurricanes and Spitfires, which were flown by Russian pilots.