stab131 wrote:Skill level does not matter. Randy Cunningham shot down the NV leading air ace. The NV pilot had 23 or more kills, Cunningham got his 5th when shooting him down.
Skill does matter when you want to compare the attributes of two different machines (be it aircraft or typewritters). When you are comparing to different items, you try to make the outside parameters as identical as possible. That why the
same skill level is a requirement.
stab131 wrote:Say you take 2 pilots both with 300 hours, both with 10 kills, do they have the same level of skill?
Maybe not. If the first pilot had all those kills in WW1 does he have the same skill needed to achieve those results in WWII? Why did so many US aces in WWII not become aces in Korea? Why did USAF Korean aces not become aces in Vietnam?
For each case, again, you try to make your outside parameters as identical as possible. Which means that if you are trying to measure Vietnam era aircraft you would use Vietnam era pilots on both machines, if you use a WW1 pilot against a Gulf war pilot your parameters are not the same.
stab131 wrote:What is the pilot’s physical condition on the day they fly, tired, hung over, war weary? How badly does he want to engage the enemy?
We are not comparing the effectiveness of the airforce in the particular place and time, but the machines. What you are mentioning is very valid, as stated before, but not for comparing the aircrafts.
stab131 wrote:If skill level is the key, why then do the instructor pilots in Top Gun eventually lose air to air combat engagements to their students?
They practice ACM much more than other pilots and still their students beat them by the end of the course. Even flying similar aircraft as when the F16N fights against AF F16.
Chuck Yeager was blessed with exceptional eye sight which allowed him to see the enemy before he saw Chuck and his other pilots but still Yeager got shot down. How many leading aces in all air forces in WWII did not survive the war. The US two top aces did not, Bong died in a test flight of the P80 and McGuire crashed in combat. The US Navy's leading ace did, as did the Marines, but even Pappy Boyington with 20+ kills was shot down.
Skill helps, but it is not all about skill.
I think you are mixing two different parameters in one, skill and aptitude. Which would explain your last comment.