Robert Knight Morgan (July 31, 1918 – May 15, 2004) was a colonel and a Command Pilot in the United States Air Force from Asheville, North Carolina.
 During World War II, while a captain in the United States Army Air Forces, Morgan was a bomber pilot with the 8th Air Force in the European theater and the aircraft commander of the famous B-17 Flying Fortress, "Memphis Belle", flying 25 missions.
 After completing his European tour, Morgan flew another 26 combat missions in the B-29 Superfortress against Japan in the Pacific Theater.
Otto Albert Bernhard Weiß (25 September 1907 – 19 August 1955) was a World War II Luftwaffe attack aircraft pilot and recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: "Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub" ).
 The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
 He was the first attack aircraft pilot so honored.
 Weiß flew more than 500 combat missions with the Henschel Hs 123 and the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
The Blond Knight of Germany is a book by the American authors Trevor J. Constable and Raymond F. Toliver dedicated to the life and career of the German fighter pilot of World War II, Erich Hartmann.
 Originally released in the United States in 1970, it was published in Germany the next year, as Holt Hartmann vom Himmel!
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A Light combat aircraft is a light multirole military aircraft most coming from advanced trainers that have been modified or designed for engaging in light combat missions, either in light strike or attack missions, reconnaissance or interdiction roles while some keeping its trainer role.
 They are also slower than their bigger counterparts capable only of subsonic speed though some are capable of reaching mach 1+.
 Although equipped with either guns or short range air-to-air missiles it is usually for self-defense purpose or anti-helicopter missions not for air defense as lightweight fighters do, though some are capable of air combat missions due to integrated or have variants capable of carrying powerful multi-mode radar systems, most LCAs don't have such due to their small limited design or are less powerful.
 However they can still be used to patrol the skies and implement border patrol or air policing.
 These aircraft are usually smaller and more lightly armed than the bigger multirole or strike aircraft such as the American F-18, F-15E Strike Eagle or Russian Mig-29.
 Most LCAs are armed with either bombs, rockets or gun pods used for COIN or CAS missions.
 Some aircraft have been developed to integrate more advanced armaments such as smart bombs and air to ground missiles and electronic targeting systems for better mission capability.
Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993), nicknamed "Bubi" ("The Kid") by his German comrades and "The Black Devil" by his Soviet adversaries, was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare.
 He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions.
 He claimed, and was credited with, shooting down 352 Allied aircraft—345 Soviet and 7 American—while serving with the "Luftwaffe".
 During the course of his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his fighter 14 times due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down or mechanical failure.
 Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire.
Wilhelm Crinius (2 December 1920 – 26 April 1997) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II.
 A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.
 Crinius is credited with 114 aerial victories claimed in approximately 400 combat missions.
 He recorded 100 victories over the Eastern Front.
 Of his 14 victories claimed over the Western Front, one was a four-engined bomber.
 On 23 September 1942, Crinius became the only German fighter pilot to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ("Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes") and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ("Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub") simultaneously.
Joachim Brendel (27 April 1921 – 7 July 1974) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: "Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub" ).
 The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
 Brendel was credited with 189 aerial victories—that is, 189 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in 950 all Eastern Front combat missions, among them 162 ground support missions.
 A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.
Major Lee Lue (1935 – 12 July 1969) was a Laotian Hmong fighter bomber pilot notable for flying more combat missions than any other pilot in the Kingdom of Laos.
 Lee Lue flew continuously, as many as 10 missions a day and averaging 120 combat missions a month to build a total of more than 5,000 sorties.
 Lee Lue was the leader of the special group of Hmong pilots flying T-28Ds from Long Tieng against the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese positions.
 The group was funded by the CIA and was part of the regular Royal Lao Air Force, but took orders directly from MR2 Commander Gen. Vang Pao.
 He was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and killed over Laos near Muang Soui on 12 July 1969.
 At the time of his death, he had flown more combat missions than any pilot in history.
Born in Hanoi, Vietnam, he was a pilot for the Vietnam People's Air Force who rose to the rank of Captain and flew many combat missions during the Vietnam War.
 In 1978, Liêm graduated from Gagarin Military Air Academy at Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union.
Wilhelm Batz (21 May 1916, in Bamberg – 11 September 1988, in Mauschendorf/Ebern in Unterfranken) was a pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II.
 The sixth-most successful fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare, Batz flew 445 combat missions and claimed 237 enemy aircraft shot down.
 234 of these victories were achieved over the Eastern Front, including at least 46 Il-2 Sturmoviks, but he did claim three victories, including one four-engine bomber against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) over the Ploieşti oil fields.
 Batz was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Question: How many combat missions did the pilot on whom the book The Blond Knight of Germany is based 
Answer: 1,404