I find it interesting that people still insist the plane has absolutely no impact on the fight. Truly, it boggles my mind. Is a spitfire/N1K2 easier to get a kill in than.. I dunno... a 190A5 or a C205? Absolutely. I personally can't understand how anyone could fail to see that. Yet some people do fail to see it.
I'll actually try to make this as clear as possible, right from the get go.
Spit IX vs 190a5 (I'll use the 190 since I am rather more familiar with that).
Spitfire advantages - Firepower (a huge advantage), acceleration, climb rate, turning, much better low speed handling, much lower stall speed.
190 advantages - .... .... . . .... ahh.... roll rate?
It doesn't matter which style of fighting you use (tnb, E-fighting, bore n zoom).. the Spit IX is vastly superior to the 190a5. The N1K2 is just about a Spit IX clone when you compare traits.. you trade 2 one hit wonder cannons for 4 more ordinary 20mm with a lot of ammo. The N1K2 isn't quite as good in the vertical though.
I said it in the game, and I'll say it again here. You put Fester in a 202, and me in a Spit IX... and Fester hasn't got a chance. Does that mean I'm a better pilot? Hell no... it means the Spit IX is that much better of a plane. Hell, Levi or Wld, you can take me up on that offer to, if you'd like to prove to me that the pilot is more important than the plane.