[Furio]

The whole numbers game exploded in my hands! Each new number I write just adds to the confusion, so I would try one last time, reducing the whole thing to the very bare-bones essence.
20 (twenty, not 2,500 nor 10,000) Rudels would have changed the course of war.
200 pilots with one tenth of his ability and luck would have obtained the same result.
400 pilots with one twentieth of his ability and luck would have obtained the same result.
Germany lost the war, and this leave us with two possible explanations:
Rudel’s victory tally is far from reality.
Rudel’s victory tally is near reality, and all other Luftwaffe attack pilots were incredibly ineffective, unable to reach even one tenth to one twentieth of his results, while flying the same types against the same enemy.
This is what numbers tell to me, and I would not insist further on it.

Originally Posted by majorfailure

In a state so focused to document everything correctly, even their own war crimes? And at least for missions flown, there would have been witnesses to every take-off and every landing. Not impossible to do, but I'd bet some witness would have come forward after the war and tried to debunk the myth then. The shotdowns should even today be verifyable by comparing documents.

This is an interesting and serious objection, but at least three explanations come to my mind. They do not exclude each other. On the contrary they sum up happily.
First: the Germans were surely meticulous, but they concocted as much propaganda as any other combatant. By definition, propaganda alters reality, often to a bewildering level.
Second: Rudel was surely a great pilot and surely obtained remarkable results. He soon became a hero, than a super hero, and who would question a super-hero’s word? As a super-hero, returning from a mission he could claim anything. Nobody would contradict him, both for his status and for his propaganda value.
Third: after the war, witness became rapidly scarce. For many years Nazi war crimes fell into oblivion, while the attention of Western public was redirected toward the new enemy: Soviet Union. In the new climate, Rudel was free to relive his super-hero myth with a successful book, a good thing for his ego, his pocket and his political party.
As for debunking myths, it’s never easy. Between history and myths, people always favour myths. Look at how little success I had here in this thread!

Originally Posted by majorfailure

Never said "require", just said allows. And how ever improbable it may be, not impossible.
As I said he must have been one of the luckiest pilots in that war.

Here I think we’ll disagree forever. Everything is possible, you’re right. You can throw two dice and obtain two sixes, then again, and then again, but each time it’s less and less probable, to the point that it’s practically impossible. You cannot stretch luck forever. Please read again what I’ve written about USAAF policy on the matter. I maintain my opinion: Rudel flew fewer missions, or most of his missions had very low risk, or no risk at all.

I don’t want to repeat what I’ve already said about being shot down 30 times.