Balloon Buster vs. Dogfighter

[Kilian]

Maybe this is a dumb question. But it came to my attention that some german pilots like Friedrich von Röth mainly killed baloons and earned the blue Max for number of wins. Can we see this as an abuse to win the medal or why did they specialize on them?

regards

K.

[Barrett]

How would it be an abuse of the PlM to go after balloons?

1) Balloon busting was arguably THE most dangerous endeavor in WW I aviation.
2) the reason for the above is that balloons were strategic assets, unlike airplanes, and were defended accordingly. Artillery observation was directly linked to the ground war, and had the potential to kill large numbers of enemy troops and destroy or deter front-line logistics.

The reason that some pilots developed "balloon fever" would make an interesting psychological study, especially since about 30% of the balloon aces were killed, captured, or wounded.

Since one balloon observer and a handful of aircraft observers received the PlM, obviously the high command and the Kaiser approved of their actions.

[Kilian]

Thanks for your input Barret. I dont know much about Baloons from the books i have read so far.

regards

K.

[rammjaeger]

I think Ritter von Tutschek underlined that 6 of his first 13 victories were enemy pilots intending to attack balloons!

[Sreiko]

The reason that some pilots developed "balloon fever" would make an interesting psychological study, especially since about 30% of the balloon aces were killed, captured, or wounded.

This is very interesting statement and I agree with this. Thank you Barrett

[JG1Schorner]

To give an idea of the danger involved in attacking balloons, these assets were bracketed by AA and machine guns. Unlike normal AA fire directed at a passing plane that had to estimate altitude, AA fire protecting a balloon knew your altitude (same as the balloon plus a bit more) and could put up a lethal curtain of fire that you had to fly through.

If you got through the high explosive AA then you were probably low enough to attract ground fire from machine guns and rifles. Very dangerous, probably more so than the HE.

Finally there was the fighter cover. If you attacked the balloon you exposed you rear end to enemy fighters and effectively handed them an altitude advantage to go along with it. Also very dangerous.

This is why IMHO the SPAD was the premier balloon buster. Tough enough to take abuse on the attack it was also fast enough to escape when the attack was completed.

[Bettors Pub]

I don't have sources in front of me to cite but I believe that I've read on more than one occasion that Roth was a terrible marksman

[Kilian]

Originally Posted by Bettors Pub

I don't have sources in front of me to cite but I believe that I've read on more than one occasion that Roth was a terrible marksman

Your are right. It is mentioned in Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #63 on page 10 in the paragraph about Jasta 16b.

[...]Röth was not considered a good marksman, and this apparently led him to specialize in balloons because they were larger targets. However, he still managed to shoot down eight aircraft. [...] (Van Wyngarden, Franks 2004)

[Gregvan]

Hi,

You will read in some secondary sources that Fritz Röth was a terrible marksman because he had very poor eyesight, but I've never seen an original, primary source to confirm that he had vision problems. However, his close friend Max Gossner did imply that he wasn't the best marksman. He wrote that when they both served as novice fighter pilots in Jasta 23b in November 1917, they both had poor results when shooting at a stationary ground target from their airborne Albatrosse. Then, one day, Röth said thoughtfully, "You know, these "sausages", actually, you just have to hit one of them."

Later on, Gossner says, "If he had been as good a shot as he was a daring fighter pilot then he would have obtained even more successes."

(Wenn er ein ebenso guter Schütze wie schneidiger Jagdflieger gewesen wäre, dann hätte er noch weit mehr Erfolge errungen.)

Greg

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Gentlemen:
In a visit to Willy Coppens in 1972, I asked Willy,"Why did you go after balloons?" He answer was, "As hard as I tried, I had been unsuccessful in shooting down German aircraft. I saw how big the German observation balloons were, and I thought, I could not miss a target that big. So I attacked a German balloon and shot it down. That Is why I shot down balloons."
Blue skies,
Dan-San