- Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 - April 21, 1918) was a German fighter pilot known as The Red Baron. He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, and was credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.
- Ilan Ramon
Ilan Ramon (June 20 1954 - February 1 2003;) was a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut. Ramon was the space shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of "Columbia", where he and the other crew were killed in a re-entry accident over Texas. Ramon is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
- Eddie Rickenbacker
Eddie Rickenbacker was best known as a World War I fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation. During his lifetime, Rickenbacker worked with many influential civilian and military leaders. He had keen insight into technology, and vision for future improvements.
- Scott O'Grady
Scott F. O'Grady is a former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after ejecting over Bosnia when his F-16C 89-2032/AV was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 on June 2, 1995 while patrolling the no-fly zone. The incident occurred near Mrkonjić Grad in Serb kept territory. He survived for six days eating little, avoiding Serb patrols and trying to contact Magic, the NATO organization. He evaded capture and was rescued six days later, on 8 June, …
- Robin Olds
Robin Olds was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was a "triple ace", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general. Born into a regular Army family, educated at West Point, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot.
- Billy Bishop
Air Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop VC CB DSO & Bar MC DFC ED (8 February 1894 - 11 September 1956) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, the highest number for a British Empire pilot.
- Dan Halutz
"'"' (born August 71948 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli Air Force Lt. General and former Israeli Air Force commander. Halutz was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces on June 1, 2005. On January 17 2007 he announced his resignation. He has a degree in economics.
- Frank Borman
Frank Borman retired from the Air Force in 1970, but is well remembered as a part of this nation's history, a pioneer in the exploration of space and veteran of both the Gemini 7, 1965 Space Orbital Rendezvous with Gemini 6 and the first manned lunar orbital mission, Apollo 8, in 1968. Borman's retirement from the Air Force in 1970 did not end his aviation career.
- Robert S. Johnson
Robert Samuel Johnson (21 February 1920 to 27 December 1998) was a USAAF fighter pilot during the Second World War. He is credited with scoring 27 victories during the conflict flying a P-47 Thunderbolt. For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medals and a Purple Heart. Robert S. Johnson was the first USAAF fighter pilot in the European theater to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's WWI score of 26 victories.
- Geoffrey Wellum
Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey Wellum DFC (b. 4 August 1921) is a Battle of Britain British fighter pilot and author.
- Scott Anderson
Scott D. Anderson (1965 - March 23, 1999) was an F-16 fighter pilot for the Air National Guard in Duluth, Minnesota. He was also a test pilot for Cirrus Design. He was killed in an aircraft crash while testing Cirrus's SR20. Anderson is also the author of "Distant Fires", an outdoor adventure autobiography.
- Hiroyoshi Nishizawa
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (January 27, 1920 - October 26, 1944) was an ace pilot of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force during World War II. It is possible he was the most successful Japanese fighter ace of the war; he personally claimed to have had 87 aerial victories at the time of his death. Some uncertainty is due to the Japanese habit of recording victories for the pilot's air group rather than the individual after 1941, …
- Neville Duke
Squadron Leader Neville Frederick Duke DSO, OBE, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (11 January 1922 – 7 April 2007) was a British Second World War fighter pilot. He was the top Allied flying ace in the Mediterranean Theatre, having shot down at least 27 enemy aircraft, and was acknowledged as one of the world's foremost test pilots after the war. In 1953, he became holder of the world air speed record when he flew a Hawker Hunter F Mk3 at 727.63 mph over Littlehampton in the UK.
- Ezer Weizman
"'"' ((June 15,1924-April 24, 2005) was the seventh President of the State of Israel. He served a seven-year term, 1993–2000. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli air force and Minister of Defense.
- James White
Captain James Butler White, DFC, RNAS (July 7, 1893 - January 2, 1972) was a World War I Royal Naval Air Service flying ace. White was born on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. He served with No. 8 Naval Squadron RNAS, which was renamed No. 208 Squadron RAF after the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918. He achieved 12 victories in total, his first on January 24, 1918 and his last two on October 3, 1918.
- Clive Caldwell
Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC and Bar (28 July 1910 – 5 August 1994) was the leading Australian fighter ace of World War II. He is officially credited with shooting down 28.5 enemy aircraft in over 300 operational sorties. In addition to his official score, he has been ascribed three shared victories, six probables and 15 damaged.
- Robert Stanford Tuck
Robert Roland Stanford Tuck DSO DFC and Bar (1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987) was a British fighter pilot and test pilot.
- Kazimierz Leski
Kazimierz Leski, "nom de guerre" Bradl, was a Polish engineer, fighter pilot and officer of the Home Army's intelligence and counter-intelligence during the years of World War II. A co-author of the design of ORP Sęp and ORP Orzeł, he is credited with at least 25 journeys across German-held Europe, usually dressed as a Major General of the Wehrmacht.
- Caroline Aigle
Caroline Aigle (born in 1974) is the first French woman to become a fighter pilot in the French Air Force.
- Hans Ekkehard Bob
Hans Ekkehard Bob (24 January, 1917) was a German Fighter pilot, serving with the Luftwaffe. During World War II, Bob flew approximately seven hundred combat Missions, and claimed sixty victories; thirty-seven of which were on the eastern front.
- William Conrad
William Conrad (September 27 1920 - February 11 1994), born William Cann, was an American actor and narrator in radio, film and television noted for his baritone voice, as well as for his sizable girth.
- Nie Haisheng
- Paddy Finucane
"Note: Do not confuse with Pat Finucane or Patrick Finucane" Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, DSO, DFC & two Bars (1920 - 1942), known as Paddy Finucane, was an Irish RAF fighter pilot. He was a high scoring Second World War flying ace – claiming 32 victories – and was the RAF's youngest Wing Commander in its history. Paddy Finucane was the first child of Thomas and Florence Finucane; born on 16 October 1920 in Rathmines, Dublin, …
- Clyde Edgerton
Clyde Edgerton is an American author born on May 20, 1944 in Durham, North Carolina. He is a rock star, and his books are known for endearing characters, small-town Southern dialogue and realistic fire and brimstone religious sermons. His books are full of humor, while still respecting the characters' integrity. He grew up in the small, rural town of Bethesda, North Carolina. He was the only child of Truma and Ernest Edgerton, …
- Missy Cummings
Mary (Missy) Cummings was one of the United States Navy's first female fighter pilots. She attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating with a B.S. in mathematics in 1988; she received her master's degree in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994 and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2003. Dr. Cummings spent eleven years (1988-1999) as a naval officer and military pilot earning the rank of Lieutenant, …
- Viktor Belenko
Viktor Ivanovich Belenko is an American aerospace engineer and lecturer of Russian origin. Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment of the Soviet Anti-Air Defense based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. His name became known worldwide on September 6th, 1976 when he successfully defected to the West, flying his MiG 25 "Foxbat" to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, …
- Giora Epstein
Giora Epstein was an Israeli fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and is the current modern-day "ace of aces" in shooting down jet fighters since 1970. Epstein has a total of 17 downed aircraft to his name, all of which are confirmed. Epstein shot down 8 enemy planes flying the Mirage III and 9 while flying the IAI Nesher, an Israeli built version of the Mirage.
- Hans Waldmann
Hans "Dackel" Waldmann (born 24 September 1922 in Braunschweig, killed in flying accident 18 March 1945 near Schwarzenbek, Holstein was a German former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
- Harrison Thyng
Harrison Reed Thyng was a fighter pilot and an officer in the United States Air Force with the rank of general. He is notable as one of only six USAF fighter pilots to be recognized as an ace in two wars. On retiring from the military, Thyng became a New Hampshire candidate to the United States Senate.
- Lydia Litvyak
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, also known as Lydia Litvak or Lily Litvak, was a female fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during Second World War. With 12 victories, she is one of the world's only two female fighter aces, along with Katya Budanova.
- Ted Hartley
Ted Hartley has been a US Navy fighter pilot, an investment banker, an actor, producer, and is currently CEO of RKO Pictures. He is married to actress Dina Merrill.
- Donald Cunnell
Donald Charles Cunnell (1893-1917) was a British World War I flying ace who was killed in action over Belgium.
- Julian Ovenden
Julian Ovenden is an English television and film actor. As of 2006, he has been acting in the American television series "Related". He is currently best known for his part in the television series "Foyle's War", a BAFTA-award winning detective series set in Hastings, England, during World War II, in which he stars opposite Michael Kitchen.
- Hanns Scharff
Hanns-Joachim Gottlob Scharff (December 16, 1907 - September 10, 1992) was a German Luftwaffe interrogator during the Second World War. He has been called the "Master Interrogator" of the Luftwaffe and possibly all of Nazi Germany; he has also been praised for his contribution in shaping U.S. interrogation techniques after the war. Merely an "Obergefreiter" (the equivalent of a senior lance corporal), …
- Pug Southerland
James Julien "Pug" Southerland II was a United States Navy fighter pilot during World War II. He is credited with scoring 5 victories during the conflict flying Grumman F4F Wildcats. For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and a Purple Heart. Rear Admiral David Richardson, who served in the same unit with Southerland, recalled how his friend earned the nickname "Pug" because he was such a pugnacious boxer.
- William George Barker
Lieutenant-Colonel William George Barker, VC, DSO and Bar, MC and Two Bars (3 November 1894 - 12 March 1930) was a Canadian First World War fighter ace and Victoria Cross winner.
- Doc Blanchard
Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (born December 11, 1924, raised in Bishopville, South Carolina) is best known as the Army football player who won the 1945 Heisman, Maxwell Award, and James E. Sullivan Award. The son of a doctor who had played football at Tulane and Wake Forest, Felix Blanchard was nicknamed "Little Doc" as a boy.
- Hans Stuck
Hans Stuck (sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez was a German motor racing driver. Despite many successes in Grand Prix motor racing for Auto Union in the early 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows", he is now mostly known for his domination of hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains".
- Jerry Williams
Jerry Williams (November 1, 1923 - December 31, 1998) was a football player coach who served as head coach of two Canadian Football League teams, as well as the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. Williams, a native of Spokane, Washington, was a fighter pilot during World War II before playing collegiately at running back for Washington State University from 1946-1948.
- Gotthard Handrick
Karl Hermann Gotthard Handrick (born 25 October 1908; died 30 May 1978) was a German Olympic athlete and fighter pilot. He won the Gold medal in the Modern pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. As a fighter pilot he participated in Spanish Civil War and claimed 5 aerial victories while flying for the Legion Condor. During World War II he claimed anoher 10 vicories earning him the German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943