 Major Walter " Nowi " Nowotny ( 7 December 1920 – 8 November 1944 ) was an Austrian @-@ born German fighter ace of World War II . He is credited with 258 aerial victories — that is , 258 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft — in 442 combat missions . Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters , the Messerschmitt Me 262 , in the Defense of the Reich . He scored most of his victories in the Focke @-@ Wulf Fw 190 , and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . 
