This document is part of a series about Randall "Duke" Cunningham's attempted murder / suicide on November 25th, 2005
Home page for "Cunningham's Last Battle" web site / Contact the author / victim / witness Russell 'Ace' Hoffman
June 21st, 2006
RE: The Last Ace
Hi Bill
I said it was fatal -- I didn't say HE died! One of the people in the other car died -- reportedly the driver, and reportedly not (depending on which report you read).
The other car apparently went over the center line and was going 70 mph when they collided -- about the same speed I estimate Cunningham was going when he hit us. But Horn was going (according to CHP) 35 MPH, so he wouldn't have had nearly the maneuverability I had letting out the clutch from about 12 or 15 mph with the tach in the power range (about 4500 rpm).
Horn may have had no time to react -- it was accidental, apparently. I had about 5 to 7 seconds to come up with a plan because what was happening to me was no accident.
Yours,
Ace
At 10:53 AM 6/21/2006 -0700, "Bill S." wrote:
Hello Russell - opps - I mean "ACE"
Bill Horn was killed in a head-on? I did not read anything about this.
From: "Russell 'Ace' Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
To: "Bill S."
Subject: RE: The Last Ace
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:35:44 -0700
Hi Bill,
And even with all that wait, then there were some typos.
I "needed" the document yesterday because I had talked to a reporter about the case, and I wanted to send him that. He had called because of the email I had distributed after that Idaho head-on.
Also, we had contacted Bill Horn a few weeks ago about it, not knowing he himself had been involved in a fatal head-on crash just a few days before!
So he really has some "experience" with this sort of thing.
Yours,
Ace
About the quote of the day: Aren't you supposed to add "in bed" to those sorts of things, or is that just for fortunes in fortune cookies?
At 07:34 AM 6/21/2006 -0700, "Bill S." wrote:
No wonder it took you so long to give me an explanation.
Here is my Quote of the day.
"Women want me and Fish fear me"
See ya,
Bill
From: "Russell 'Ace' Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
To: "Bill S."
Subject: The Last Ace
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:32:16 -0700
Hi Bill,
You asked what KIND of "Ace.
Well, funny you should ask. Someone has to be the first to know the answer.
"Ace" was a term given to fighter pilots beginning, probably, no later than early on during World War One. It was never formalized as to what, exactly, an "Ace" was. Generally, it has come to mean five "kills," except in Germany, where 15 or even 20 "kills" were needed to be an "Ace." As little as three "kills" has been enough, for some countries, in some wars, to define an "Ace," at least in World War One.
"Kill" is in quotes because it really refers to a shoot-down; there could be more souls on board than one. And the pilot could even have ejected or otherwise survived, but the plane was down (that way, cheap shots at men in parachutes were generally frowned upon (but not always). "Ace" is in quotes because it's the subject of discussion. And let us get back to it:
Besides a complete lack of any formal definition, the question has long been asked, primarily by statisticians who find war more fascinating than baseball, and never satisfactorily answered by anyone: What is someone who "kills" an "Ace," especially a top "Ace," but is not an "Ace" himself?
Isn't that more valuable than just to get a "kill" of, say, a rookie flyer with no kills, himself, under his belt (or painted on his cowl)?
What became of the man who shot The Red Baron down? He died of a heart attack in 1944. But he had (probably, it was never confirmed) shot down the #1 "Ace" of World War One, the most famous "Ace" of all time, the "Ace of Aces."
Cunningham had shot down five planes -- one of only two American Aces out of Vietnam (one was an "Ace" going in). There have been no more Aces since then. His last kill was probably the top Ace in the North Vietnamese military -- I think he was credited with 20 "kills" of American planes.
So I figure it this way: I beat Cunningham, and Cunningham was an "Ace" who shot down an even bigger "Ace," and there aren't likely to be any more "Aces" because of the nature of modern warfare (for example, we would normally knock out any country's Air Force on the ground, with remote-controlled missiles, long before engaging in "Dog Fights" these days).
So, you asked what kind of "Ace" I am. The answer is:
The Last Ace.
Yours,
Ace
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"I think of this war as it really is, not as people at home image, with a hoorah! and a roar. It is very serious, very grim." - Manfred von Richthofen (source: unverified)
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Generally, and correctly I think, Canadian WWI "Ace" Arthur Roy Brown is credited with shooting The Red Baron down:
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"... the sight of Richthofen as I walked closer gave me a start. He appeared so small to me, so delicate. He looked so friendly. Blond, silk-soft hair, like that of a child, fell from the broad, high forehead. His face, particularly peaceful, had an expression of gentleness and goodness, of refinement. Suddenly I felt miserable, desperately unhappy, as if I had committed an injustice. With a feeling of shame, a kind of anger against myself moved in my thoughts, that I had forced him to lay there. And in my heart I cursed the force that is devoted to death. I gnashed my teeth, I cursed the war. If I could I would gladly have brought him back to life, but that is somewhat different than shooting a gun. I could no longer look him in the face. I went away. I did not feel like a victor. There was a lump in my throat. If he had been my dearest friend, I could not have felt greater sorrow."
Source:
http://www.constable.ca/brown.htm
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Here's what it felt like to nearly be Richthofen's last kill, but survive -- there are, thus some interesting similarities between what happens here to May, and what happened in November to Sharon and I, also being hunted down by the best, also finding a way out because "the best" made a few "fatal" mistakes:
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"I kept dodging and spinning, I imagine from about 12,000 feet until I ran out of sky and had to hedgehop over the ground. Richthofen was firing at me continually. The only thing that saved my life was my poor flying. I didn't know what I was doing myself and I do not suppose that Richthofen could figure out what I was going to do. We came over the German lines, troops firing at us as we went over. This was also the case coming over the British lines."
Brown saw that May was in desperate trouble and disengaged from the dogfight to dive onto the red Fokker from behind. He was a ways off and May had to fend for himself for several minutes.
May continued:
"I got on the Somme River and started up the valley at a very low altitude, Richthofen very close on my tail. I went around a curve in the river just near Corbie. Richthofen beat me to it and came over the hill. At that moment I was a sitting duck. I was too low down between the banks to make a turn away from him, I felt that he had me cold, and I was in such a state of mind at this time that I had to restrain myself from pushing my stick forward into the river, as I knew that I had had it."
What likely saved May was that Richthofen's guns were not firing properly. The left one was completely jammed and the right one was not extracting the bullets so that he could only fire a single shot before he had to manually reload, adjust his aim and fire again. Also, Richthofen had neglected his cardinals rule of air-fighting, don't go over the British lines, don't fly low and don't fly alone. He broke all three that morning, and it was his undoing.
Source:
http://www.constable.ca/brown.htm
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And then there's my dad's little story about the World War Two "Ace" talking about his flying experiences, at a fancy tea years later at which he is the guest of honor that day.
"There I was, a Fokker on my left, and a Fokker on my right! And both of them wanting to kill me!"
The host, knowing full well that a "Fokker" is a German airplane, but thinking many people in the audience will not know and will think the pilot had said a very dirty word not once but twice, made a mental note to apologize for him after the talk.
When the talk was over, the host stood up, thanked the Ace, and told the audience that a "Fokker," despite whatever you might have thought, is the type of airplane flown by the German pilots in the story.
"No! No!" cries out the pilot, not wanting to leave the audience misunderstanding the events. Those f%#kers were flying Messerschmitts!"
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At 10:39 AM 4/21/2006 -0700, "Bill S." wrote:
Hello Russell,
Did you get a rply from this E-mail.
Also are you an Ace of Spades, diamods, Clubs or Hearts?
See ya,
Bill
P.S. Lynne only has a few more weeks down here at the flower fields - she is down here on Monday and Tuesday Nights - ckeck your schedule and see what might work for you guys to meet for dinner.