Editing Flying ace (section)

{{Short description|Distinction given to fighter pilots}}
{{Other uses|Flying Ace (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Pegoud croix de guerre.jpg|thumb|The "first French ace", Frenchman [[Adolphe Pégoud]] being awarded the ''[[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]]'']]
[[File:Mohammad Mahmood Alam 1965.jpg|thumb|[[MM Alam]], the only ace-in-a-day achiever in the jet age]]
A '''flying ace''', '''fighter ace''' or '''air ace''' is a [[military aviation|military aviator]] credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during [[aerial combat]]; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace varies, but is usually considered to be five or more.

The concept of the "[[Ace (military)|ace]]" emerged in 1915 during [[World War I]], at the same time as aerial [[dogfight]]ing. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]]. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era.<ref>Robertson, pp. 100&mdash;103.</ref> For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and [[air superiority]] depended heavily on the relative availability of resources.<ref>Belich 2001.</ref> The use of the term ace to describe these pilots began in World War&nbsp;I, when French newspapers described [[Adolphe Pégoud]], as {{langx|fr|label=none|l'As}} (the ace) after he became the first pilot to down five German aircraft. The British initially used the term "star-turns" (a show business term).{{fact|date=December 2024}}

The successes of such German ace pilots as [[Max Immelmann]] and [[Oswald Boelcke]], and especially [[Manfred von Richthofen]], the most victorious fighter pilot of the First World War, were well-publicized for the benefit of civilian morale, and the ''[[Pour le Mérite]]'', Prussia's highest award for gallantry, became part of the uniform of a leading German ace. In the ''[[Luftstreitkräfte]]'', the ''Pour le Mérite'' was nicknamed ''Der blaue Max''/The Blue Max, after Max Immelmann, who was the first pilot to receive this award. Initially, German aviators had to destroy eight [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] aircraft to receive this medal.<ref name=Payne>Payne, David. [http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-at-sea-in-air/the-aces/283-mick-mannock.html "Major 'Mick' Mannock, VC: Top Scoring British Flying Ace in the Great War."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621135215/http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-at-sea-in-air/the-aces/283-mick-mannock.html |date=2017-06-21}} ''[[Western Front Association]]'', May 21, 2008.</ref> As the war progressed, the qualifications for ''Pour le Mérite'' were raised,<ref name= Payne /> but successful German fighter pilots continued to be hailed as national heroes for the remainder of the war.

The few aces among combat aviators have historically accounted for the majority of air-to-air victories in military history.<ref name="Dunnigan, p. 149">Dunnigan 2003, p. 149.</ref>