411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Chinese ace
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Noun
en military slang dated An inept airplane pilot.
en 1933 Robert Earle Galbraith These Our Moderns Flat-spin pilots are stupid or careless flyers, while Huns or Chinese aces are reckless fellows who have crashed
en 1983 John Thorn; David Reuther The Armchair Aviator 101 When I reported this to Burwell by telephone, he called me a Chinese ace — in those days Chinese aces were pilots who cracked up their own airplanes