What does it take to become a flying ace — the most feared, most celebrated kind of warrior the modern age has ever produced? Starting tomorrow, April 1st, MiGFlug is publishing a new daily series: 34 profiles of the greatest fighter aces in history, one every day through May 4th. Whether you’re passionate about aviation history or simply curious about what made certain individuals extraordinary, this series is for you.

But before the series begins, let’s meet four of its stars.

Manfred von Richthofen — The Red Baron

With 80 confirmed aerial victories, Manfred von Richthofen remains the highest-scoring ace of the First World War and perhaps the most famous military aviator who ever lived. He painted his aircraft bright red — not as a vanity, but to encourage his pilots and terrify the enemy. It worked on both counts. His legend transcended the war, the century, even the nation that bore him. On April 4th, we tell his story in full.

Erich Hartmann — The Record That Will Never Be Broken

352 aerial victories. Let that number sink in for a moment. Erich Hartmann, flying the Bf 109 on the Eastern Front, accumulated a score so far beyond every other pilot in history that it seems almost impossible. He was shot down or forced to land 16 times and walked away every time. His secret? Patience, precision, and ice-cold nerve. His full story publishes April 13th.

Lydia Litvyak — The White Rose of Stalingrad

She was twenty-one years old, flew a fighter in combat, and became the most successful female fighter pilot in history — 12 confirmed kills in less than a year. Lydia Litvyak falsified her logbook to get into combat, painted a white rose on her Yak, and fought over the burning ruins of Stalingrad. She was shot down on 1 August 1943 and denied recognition for decades. On April 22nd, she finally gets the spotlight she deserves.

Chuck Yeager — Ace in a Day, Then Faster Than Sound

Most people know Chuck Yeager as the man who broke the sound barrier. Fewer know that he was first a combat ace who shot down five aircraft in a single day — including one of Germany’s first jet fighters — and that he flew his record-breaking X-1 mission with two broken ribs he’d told almost no one about. The full Yeager story arrives on May 2nd.

The Full Series — 34 Aces, 34 Days

From the trenches of the First World War to the jet duels of the Middle East, here is every profile in the series, publishing one per day from April 1st through May 4th:

• April 1 — Adolphe Pégoud: The Acrobat Who Invented the Flying Ace
• April 2 — Oswald Boelcke: The Man Who Wrote the Rules of Aerial Combat
• April 3 — Max Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille and the Turn That Bears His Name
• April 4 — Manfred von Richthofen: The Red Baron — 80 Kills, One Legend
• April 5 — Albert Ball: The Boy Hero Who Hated Killing
• April 6 — Georges Guynemer: The Fragile Genius France Called a God of the Air
• April 7 — René Fonck: The Deadliest Allied Ace Who History Forgot
• April 8 — Edward Mannock: Britain’s Top Ace Flew with One Eye
• April 9 — Billy Bishop: Canada’s Greatest Ace and the Dawn Raid Nobody Witnessed
• April 10 — Ernst Udet: The Ace Who Won WWI Dogfights and Lost WWII at His Own Hand
• April 11 — Julius Arigi: The Top Ace of a Vanished Empire
• April 12 — Joaquín García Morato: Spain’s Greatest Ace
• April 13 — Erich Hartmann: 352 Kills — The Record That Will Never Be Broken
• April 14 — Gerhard Barkhorn: 301 Kills — The Ace Who Outlived His War
• April 15 — Günther Rall: 275 Victories and the Man Who Shaped NATO’s Air Force
• April 16 — Otto Kittel: The Quiet Ace Who Let His Guns Do the Talking
• April 17 — Walter Nowotny: The First Jet Ace and a Death Over Germany
• April 18 — Hans-Joachim Marseille: The Star of Africa
• April 19 — Tetsuzō Iwamoto: Japan’s Greatest Ace and the War That Never Ended for Him
• April 20 — Ivan Kozhedub: The Soviet Ace Who Never Lost a Wingman
• April 21 — Alexander Pokryshkin: The Soviet Ace Who Rewrote the Rules of Air Combat
• April 22 — Lydia Litvyak: The White Rose of Stalingrad
• April 23 — Yekaterina Budanova: The Forgotten Soviet Fighter Ace
• April 24 — Richard Bong: America’s Ace of Aces with 40 Victories in the Pacific
• April 25 — Gabby Gabreski: America’s Top Ace Over Europe and a Hero of Two Wars
• April 26 — Johnnie Johnson: Britain’s Top-Scoring Fighter Ace of World War II
• April 27 — Pat Pattle: The Mystery Ace Who May Have Been Britain’s Greatest
• April 28 — Pierre Le Gloan: France’s Top Ace Who Shot Down Aircraft from Four Nations
• April 29 — Ilmari Juutilainen: Finland’s 94-Victory Ace Who Was Never Shot Down
• April 30 — Hans Wind: Finland’s Second-Highest Ace and the Bf 109 Master of the North
• May 1 — Nikolai Sutyagin: The Greatest Jet Ace in History and the Secret War Over Korea
• May 2 — Chuck Yeager: Ace in a Day, Breaker of the Sound Barrier
• May 3 — Giora Epstein: The West’s Greatest Jet Ace and the Phantom Master of the Yom Kippur War
• May 4 — M.M. Alam: The Pakistani Ace Who Shot Down Five Aircraft in Under a Minute

Bookmark this page, follow us on social media, or simply check back every day from April 1st. The stories that follow are some of the most remarkable in the history of human courage — told here in full, for the first time in one place.

MiGFlug offers flights in military jets including the L-39 Albatros, S.211, MiG-21, and other high-performance military aircraft. If these stories inspire you to experience the world from a fighter cockpit yourself, explore our flights here.