enemy plane loomed in his gun sights, he triggered both machine guns, and also the cannon. Much to his surprise, every shot missed the mark. Then he had to pull up sharply to avoid ramming the enemy plane. Suddenly, he was surrounded by enemy airplanes and dove into a cloud bank to escape. Now Hartmann was completely lost and he panicked. As if this was not enough trouble, his plane ran out of gas. Erich tried to belly in his fighter plane but crash landed it instead. He was only dazed but his plane was totaled.

A German convoy was close and took him the 20 miles back to his base. As Erich rode along, he realized he was in serious trouble. He hoped he will not be kicked out of the Lufftwaffe (German air force), for he had broken all the rules. (Since a boy of 14, Erich Hartmann dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. His mother, Elizabeth Hartmann, a licensed pilot, took her son up

every Sunday. She encouraged him to fly.) Needless to say, Erich received a very stormy reception. He was immediately grounded and received a severe reprimand. He was also sentenced to work 3 days with a ground crew. This was very humiliating for a young rookie pilot. But he still was very lucky, for he could have received a "Kreigsgericht" (Court martial). What a peculiar way for the flying career of Lieutenant Erich "Bubi" Hartmann to begin. For in two and a half years he would become the greatest ACE of all nations of all time.

Now the time was October 14, 1942 and the place was high over the Caucasus Mountains. This was a region in Southwest Russia between the Black sea and the Caspian sea. The air base was at Soldatskaya, near the Terek river. Hartmann set out to improve his fighting skills by observing the flying styles of his squadron's best aces. For the next few

weeks he began to establish his own techniques. He trained himself to close within 150 ft of the enemy before firing. This was very effective but also very dangerous. (Sometimes flying debris from the enemy plane would fly back and strike his own plane. Several times this would force him to crash land his own plane. However, this type of dog fighting would soon become the trademark of Erich Hartmann!

Finally, after flying 90 missions with no success, Erich makes his first "kill". It is a Russian Llyushin  I1-2 "Shturmovik" ground attack aircraft. This was the toughest airplane to shoot down because of its heavy armour. (The armour plating alone weighed 1,500 lbs. 20mm anti-aircraft bullets would just bounce off the fuselage. It was nicknamed by some as the "flying tank" but it had a respectable reputation. The Germans called it "Schwarz Tod" (the black death). In order to bring it down, a pilot had to shoot out the oil cooler located underneath the fuselage.

The time was November 5, 1942. When an airplane is "flamed" (shot down), it is called a "kill," whether the pilot is hurt or not but the pilot's word is not good enough to confirm it. The kill had to be witnessed by other pilots or confirmed on film. Therefore, many planes had wing cameras installed. (Sometimes a pilot could not get credit for a kill because he was the only witness.) Everyone has heard of Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, the "Red Baron." The name has become part of our language. So many books have

been written about him they would stock a country library. Erich Hartmann had over four times as many kills as the Red Baron! But even today most people have never heard of him. However,  he became known very soon to everyone on the Eastern front. His number of kills began to climb so fast, the head of the German air force, Hermann Goering, could not believe them. (Goering had been an ace of World War 1 with 22 kills. He also took over the Red Baron's squadron after he was killed.) August 1943, Erich scored his 90th kill, while the Red Baron's top score was 80 kills. At the end of October 1943, his score was a staggering 148 kills. He was awarded the Knight's Cross, Germany's highest decoration by Adolf Hitler himself. Erich was now known as the "Blonde Knight" the "Ace of Aces," and the "Black Devil" for shooting the Ukraine! The Russians now offered a reward of 10,000 Rubles for shooting him down. January and February of 1944, he scored 50 more kills. Erich was an extraordinary fighter pilot who seemed to be invincible. March 2, 1944, he shot