List of aviators who became ace in a day
The term "ace in a day" is used to designate a pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day, based on usual definition of an "ace" as one with five or more aerial victories. World War I. Ace in a day on two occasions. A Bristol F2B crew – Canadian pilot Captain Alfred Atkey and English observer Lieutenant Charles Gass – became "ace in a day" twice in the same week. On 7 May 1918, they shot down five German planes in a single sortie over Arras. Two  days later, on 9 May, they were credited with another five enemy machines in the course of two sorties. Atkey and Gass survived the Great War. Atkey credited with a total of 38 victories, making him the most successful two-seater pilot and Gass with 39 claims was the most successful observer ace of all time. René Fonck, the top scoring French "Aéronautique Militaire" and Allied ace of the war, scored six in a day on both 9 May and 26 September 1918. Ace in a day. The first aviators to ever achieve "ace in a day" were pilot Julius  Arigi and observer/gunner Johann Lasi of the Austro-Hungarian air force, on 22 August 1916, when they downed five Italian planes. The first single pilot (as opposed to double aviators, as is the case with the previously-mentioned Arigi and Lasi) was World War I German flying ace Fritz Otto Bernert. Bernert scored five victories within 20 minutes on 24 April 1917. He had a total of 27 kills during the war, even though he wore glasses and had a useless left arm. World War II. Triple-ace in a day. To achieve this a pilot must have destroyed  15 enemy aircraft in a single day. This has been achieved by only five pilots, all from the Luftwaffe: Double-ace in a day. To achieve this a pilot must have destroyed ten enemy aircraft in a single day. This has been achieved by twelve pilots, three of whom repeated their achievement a second time within weeks. Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Muhammad Mahmood Alam downed five aircraft in a single sortie on 7 September 1965 with four in less than a minute, establishing a world record. These claims, however, have been widely  contested by Indian Air Force and retired PAF Air Commodore Sajad S. Haider since the gun camera footage was never made public. 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Stephen Tarabalka was credited with destroying upto 40 Russian aircraft by Ukrainian sources. , however, these claims have been widely contested. He was reported as destroying 6 jets in one day's combat, making him, by definition, a flying ace. According to Ukrainian sources, he died while on a mission in a dogfight. Tarabalka was buried in a cemetery in Korolivka in Ukraine, near Kolomyia. The Ukraine Government planned to auction his helmet and  gloves to raise funds for the ongoing conflict. The Ukraine Government posthumously awarded him Ukraine's top award for bravery, the Order of the Golden Star, with the title Hero of Ukraine.