# Heads of State/Goverment with the most air kills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365 "2009-08-05T00:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/1 "2009-08-05T00:15:01Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/2 "2009-08-05T01:20:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/3 "2009-08-05T01:42:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/4 "2009-08-05T02:55:19Z")
[Ian Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Smith), the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia, was a WWII RAF fighter pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/5 "2009-08-05T03:03:14Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, two who come close are George H. W. Bush, who was an airforce pilot in World War II… 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. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/6 "2009-08-05T03:11:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/7 "2009-08-05T03:36:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m wracking my brains but can’t think of any heads of state or government who were former military pilots Australian Prime Minister [Sir John Gorton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gorton#War_service) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/8 "2009-08-05T07:35:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 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_). Canadian [Prime Minister Lester “Mike” Pearson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_B._Pearson#First_World_War) 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. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/9 "2009-08-05T08:24:12Z")
[From Pilot to President](http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/From-Pilot-to-President.html?c=y&page=1) is an interesting article from Air & Space Magazine courtesy of the Smithsonian. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-of-state-goverment-with-the-most-air-kills/505365/10 "2009-08-05T15:30:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Nitpick: Bush was a U.S. Navy pilot. Nitpick of a nitpick: In the navy, “pilot” refers to someone operating a boat. Flyboys are called “aviators”. 🙂