Ezer Weizman, President of Israel may have shot down a British Spitfire in the 1948 war. Any other heads of state/goverment who have got an air kill?
Well, two who come close are George H. W. Bush, who was an airforce pilot in World War II, but doesn’t have any air kills credited to him (his plane did sink a cargo ship, though, as well as conducting land bombing.) Herman Goering was a World War I ace, with 22 planes to his credit, but he was never head of state or government. He was President of the Reichstag, and was Hitler’s heir apparent for a while.
Hosni Mubarak is the only former Air Force pilot who is a head of state that I can think off. Might have seen air action in 1956 War, but no idea about his record.
Ian Smith, the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia, was a WWII RAF fighter pilot.
Nitpick: Bush was a U.S. Navy pilot.
I’m wracking my brains but can’t think of any heads of state or government who were former military pilots, let alone any with kills (other than the President in the movie Independence Day). Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister of India from 1985-89, was a former Indian Airlines pilot, but not military.
Jr Bush was also a military pilot. But served in the TX national guard, so I assume he never shot anything down.
Australian Prime Minister Sir John Gorton
Canadian Prime Minister Lester “Mike” Pearson was a Flying Officer with the Royal Flying Corps, but didn’t fly a combat mission, being invalided home after a training accident, and then being hit by a bus.
From Pilot to President is an interesting article from Air & Space Magazine courtesy of the Smithsonian.
Nitpick of a nitpick: In the navy, “pilot” refers to someone operating a boat. Flyboys are called “aviators”. 