Everyone know who the Red Baron is, he shot down 80 aircraft in WW1
But Erich Hartmann shot down 352, and harldy anyone knows him.

Erich who??

Hartmann may have shot down 365 aircraft, but Richthofen was the first great ace ever. Also, air combat was still a fairly romanticized idea in WW1 and the Red Baron with his bright red plane and noble standing was a very romantic figure. The other factor is that nobody came even close to the Red Baron is kill record during his career. There were severl German aces with hundreds of kills, so the accomplishment was not quite as distiguished.

it is because of the rockstar image. everyone remembers the sexy red triplane.

nothing to compare to the black tulip on otherwise anonymous Me 109.

whatever the actual combat achievements

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr Von Richthofen was a member of German aristocracy the other guy wasn't, it was a class thing

It is simply because of his enigmatic character and presence. It appealed to the ''gentlemans' war'' image.

One thing for certain though is he id NOT fly a bright red fokker DR.1 as some would suggest. He had red panels to identify himself, but the aircraft was camouflaged like all the others. he was after all attempting to stay alive just like every other pilot of the day.

The urban myth of an ''all red tri-plane'' came about is exactly that. a myth.