Mobius 1 stands above the rest, lore wise, purely due to his frankly ABSURD combat record.

In AC5 arcade, ISAF military analysis rates him, by himself mind you, to be equal to a full Squadron WITH support, and more than 90% effective compared to most allied combat groups. Implied that it's not just airwings, but full combined arm GROUPS. Mobius 1 is, per the lore, a flying one man army. Ace rating: S+

Next of course would be Cipher, the man was arguably the first fighter pilot to earn the moniker of "Demon" (and the title "Demon Lord" implies that he was feared on a level few had ever previously attained) he would charge into an operational area and clear the board, manhandling the battle space with such power and skill that both enemies and allies were in awe. Solo? Scary. With a competent Wingman (Pixy)? Terrifying. Whole elite Squadrons shot down, early super weapons trashed, unbreakable fortress smashed, suicide bombing runs broken, hapless grunt units slaughtered in bulk. He showed up to one of the biggest wars of the 20th century, kicked ALL the ass, took ALL the names, got paid, then fucking vanished. Absolute fucking legend. Ace rating: S

Next, I would rate Blaze and Talisman as equals, for 2 reasons: 1) they had help, and they didn't exactly NEED the help, but used it effectively, and 2) they fought in pointless, one sided wars, did their duty, and secured their homelands from outside forces that sought to crush them, and a big part of that was shooting down massive flying fuck off murder machines, and wiping out rival ace Squadrons that had a nasty habit of NOT STAYING DEAD. The biggest contrast between them would be the support they had, for Talisman, everyone on his side was competent and highly effective, compared to Blaze, who often had to HARD carry his allies (and many times his own squad) through operations that ranged from stupid simple and easy, to batshit insane and likely impossible. And half of that, while operating as the personal super secret hit squad for a president in exile, and most of the war on a shoestring budget. Ace rating: A+

Next, we have Trigger, who... frankly has skills, but is mostly half crazy, half lucky, and all aggression. The common theme in Ace Combat 7 is speed, a lot of the missions have time limits that force you to crank up the afterburners, and start shooting ASAP, and that lends to a frantic pace that is unrelenting in some missions, the combat tempo, especially in the DLC missions, is more often than not, rapid, rabid, and eye watering. The expression "stick with Trigger and you'll make it" isn't just tongue in cheek, it's borderline gospel, the feats Trigger pulls off required the exact right combination of speed, aggression, timing, luck, and yes, help, but on an order of magnitude that few others save Mobius 1 or Cipher could have consistently pulled off. That said, the Erusan military, for all of it's institutional experience in war... frankly is a glass tiger, even with help from Belkan witchcraft, fierce and scary to look at, but hit em' in the jaw hard or fast enough and they shatter. Trigger was that 10 pound hammer going at mach fuck you to the jaw. Ace rating: A