Ubiquity of the "victory roll"?

[Pursuivant]

There's also the fact that fooling around with celebratory acrobatics wastes fuel and time, both of which were often in short supply.

If the mission required confirmation of contact with the enemy or destruction of the target, I believe that the approved methods were to waggle the wings, send a coded message or drop a flare or message drogue.

Of course, I think that pilots of just about every air force occasionally indulged in some sort of "victory dance," either as catharsis or as actual celebration. After all, the pilots were little more than teenagers, they were flying the fastest, sexiest machines on the planet, and boys will be boys.