Bulgaria - World War Two

page generated: November 14, 2001

compiled by Allan Magnus

References:

1. Pobyeditye na Bulgarskitye Iztryabityali v Zashchita na Bulgariya - 1943-1944 g., Godini Bulgarska voyenna aviatsiya, 18 October 1997
2. Am Himmel Europas - Luftstreitkrafte an deutscher Seite 1939-1945, Hans Werner Neulen, Universitas Verlag, Germany 1997
3. Asy przestworzy 1939-1945, Przemyslaw Skulski, ACE Publication, Wroclaw, Poland, 1995
4. Air Aces, Christopher Shores, Presidio Press, Novato, California 1983
5. Fighter Aces, Raymond Toliver & Trevor Constable, Macmillan 1965

Bulgarian Aces:
The Bulgarian Air Force used a point based system as follows:
 individual claim for a four engined bomber destroyed = 3 points
 individual claim for a four engined bomber damaged   = 2 points
 individual claim for a fighter aircraft destroyed    = 1 point
 individual claim for a two engined bomber damaged    = 1 point
 shared claim for a four engined bomber destroyed     = 1 point
 shared claim for a four engined bomber damaged       = 1 point
 individual claim for a fighter aircraft damaged      = 0 points
Thus what constitutes an ace in regards to Bulgarian pilots? Should it be pilots with 5 or 
more individual victories, a pilot with 5 or more individual plus shared victories, or should
it be pilots with 5 or more points?
In the first case, there would be no Bulgarians that could claim ace status, in the second 
case only Stoyanov and Bochev would qualify as aces.
What is presented below are the Bulgarians with 5 or more points as described in the comments
section. Their claims, as individual plus shared, are also shown.