Born in 1917, Major Erich Rudorffer is a German who was a Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. He served the Germans for the entire war, which only a handful could say they did. Rudorffer is the 7th most successful fighter pilot in the history of air warfare.
He is currently the oldest jet fighter ace and the most successful fighting ace alive. He claimes 222 air kills and fought in all the major German theaters of war.
He flew more than 1000 combat missions during World War II and was engaged in aerial combat over 300 times. He himself was shot down 16 times and had to use his parachute 9 times.
He flew for Australia and later PAN-AM after the war. He then became a flight instructor in Germany in the late 1960s. In the 1970s he owned a gas station and he likely didn’t return to flying after that.