Preliminary performance numbers

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
I took the spit 14 out against all the Spit 16's.  Maybe those people just don't know how to handle a Spit, but the 14 dominated the 16's.

And  it should handle the XVI.  People keep wanting to make the XVI a monster because the number is higher then 14.  If it's a 16 it must be better right?

lol  again, nothing more then an LFIX with an American made Packard Merlin 266 in it instead of a Rolls Royce Merlin 66.  They came off the production line together.  It was only the engine that determined if it was listed as a 9 or 16.

[DoKGonZo]

Spits ripped wings on me too in offline testing - just dive back to field after pinging drones, pull back full, and *poof*.

[Squire]

I have been online and offline, and with no bombs, I cannot pull the wings off. No matter what I try. Pulled some wicked high-g blackouts, but the wings stayed on.  Weird.

With bombs, yup, a hard high g turn takes em off.

I have all "flight options" unchecked, for info.

[DoKGonZo]

I use combat trim and auto-take-off, I think them's the only options I leave on.

[lasersailor184]

The wings come off with sudden moves and damage that I've seen.  If you have a little bit of damage, you better not jerk the stick.

[Bruno]

Originally posted by Guppy35
And  it should handle the XVI.  People keep wanting to make the XVI a monster because the number is higher then 14.  If it's a 16 it must be better right?

lol  again, nothing more then an LFIX with an American made Packard Merlin 266 in it instead of a Rolls Royce Merlin 66.  They came off the production line together.  It was only the engine that determined if it was listed as a 9 or 16.

Yup, people see G-14 or Spit XVI and their assumption is bigger numer designation better plane. I mean XVI is greater then IX isn't it?

You haven't seen 'perk the G-14' mostly because of the K-4. But folks have already made some nutty claims like:

'The G-14 outperforms the old G-10!!!'

I wonder what they expected from an LF.IX / XVI? The assumptions they made based on the AHs Spit F.IX will keep them confused for some time. Eventually, maybe enough of them will grasp the fact that its basically a '43 aircraft, just a really good one.

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Guppy35
And  it should handle the XVI.  People keep wanting to make the XVI a monster because the number is higher then 14.  If it's a 16 it must be better right?

lol  again, nothing more then an LFIX with an American made Packard Merlin 266 in it instead of a Rolls Royce Merlin 66.  They came off the production line together.  It was only the engine that determined if it was listed as a 9 or 16.

I dueled sumguy last night. He was in a SpitXIV, I was in a SpitVIII. In short, the Mk.XIV was pwned.... Acceleration advantage goes to the Mk.XIV, but not by much. Climb is dead equal (tested both online and offline). However, the Mk.VIII turns better in both directions and rolls a bit better as well. The only advantage of the Mk.XIV is its speed, and speed often isn't enough. Moreover, it's only 20 mph faster on the deck. You need to be pretty high to have the Mk.XIV really shine.

As to the Mk.XVI, it IS a monster. Fastest climber in the game, rolls almost as fast as a 190, accelerates like a Dora and turns as well as the Mk.XIV (each claim supported by actual testing too). Add to that; a mix of Hispanos and .50 BMGs and you have one of the top 3 MA dogfighters, perked or otherwise.

If gets overused (a real possibility), I'd expect it to be perked like the F4U-1C. However, we're not at that point in time as of yet.

Besides, I lean towards the Mk.VIII myself.

My regards,

Widewing

[Karnak]

People have got to be aware that the old Spit balance with the Spit V being the best Merlin Spit in AH had to be wrong, right?  Did people really think that the Spit, with it's vaunted reputation as being among the three or four best WWII fighters, never progressed beyond the mediocre performance of the 1942 Spit Vc and Spit F.IX we had before AH v2.06 came out?

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Widewing
I dueled sumguy last night. He was in a SpitXIV, I was in a SpitVIII. In short, the Mk.XIV was pwned.... Acceleration advantage goes to the Mk.XIV, but not by much. Climb is dead equal (tested both online and offline). However, the Mk.VIII turns better in both directions and rolls a bit better as well. The only advantage of the Mk.XIV is its speed, and speed often isn't enough. Moreover, it's only 20 mph faster on the deck. You need to be pretty high to have the Mk.XIV really shine.

As to the Mk.XVI, it IS a monster. Fastest climber in the game, rolls almost as fast as a 190, accelerates like a Dora and turns as well as the Mk.XIV (each claim supported by actual testing too). Add to that; a mix of Hispanos and .50 BMGs and you have one of the top 3 MA dogfighters, perked or otherwise.

If gets overused (a real possibility), I'd expect it to be perked like the F4U-1C. However, we're not at that point in time as of yet.

Besides, I lean towards the Mk.VIII myself.

My regards,

Widewing

Don't you think that most XIV drivers try and fly it like a Merlin Spit?  Last week I was in a Spit V and a guy in an XIV decided to turnfight with me. The second he did that I knew it was over.  Spit XIV has to be more dependent on it's speed and acceleration.  I think it surprised him that I was turning inside his XIV so easily in a Spit V when it shouldn't have.  The lighter the Spit, the better it will turn.

The guys in the CBI that flew VIIIs and transitioned to the XIV had to get past that too.

It was one of the reasons they considered renaming the Griffon Spits something besides Spitfire because in so many ways they were a totally different bird.

I think it's why so many of the vets consider the LFIX the best of the wartime Spits overall as it did many things well whereas the Spit XIV was much more of an E fighter and less of the turn fighter that the Merlin Spits were.

I know I'm biased towards clipped wing Spits, having been a Spit XII fanatic for so many years, so I hate the idea of the XVI being perked as it's as close as I'll get to an XII with the tall tail, clipped wings and low alt performance.  By choice I don't fly perked birds, so I'd hate to lose it that way.

[Karnak]

I hope it does not get over used to the point that it ends up perked.

For my part I prefer the Mk VIII, but I am very happy that the Mk XVI made it in as well for people who like the clipped wings like you do Dan.  With those two fighters they did a good job of covering both groups of Spit fans.

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Karnak
I hope it does not get over used to the point that it ends up perked.

For my part I prefer the Mk VIII, but I am very happy that the Mk XVI made it in as well for people who like the clipped wings like you do Dan.  With those two fighters they did a good job of covering both groups of Spit fans.

These are largely my sentiments as well. I really hope the SpitXVI doesn't get overused. It's impossible to tell until a tour or two go by. New planes get heavy usage at first. Look at the Ki-84 as an example. It is nearly the monster the Mk.XVI is, but it doesn't get a lot of use these days.

My regards,

Widewing

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Guppy35
Don't you think that most XIV drivers try and fly it like a Merlin Spit?

I know I'm biased towards clipped wing Spits, having been a Spit XII fanatic for so many years, so I hate the idea of the XVI being perked as it's as close as I'll get to an XII with the tall tail, clipped wings and low alt performance.  By choice I don't fly perked birds, so I'd hate to lose it that way.

This is why I think the Mk.XIV should be unperked. It is a medium to high altitude fighter. Very fast, agile and dangerous indeed. However, in the MA it must do most of its fighting well below it optimal altitude. Down below 15k it's out of its element.

My concern about the Mk.XVI is that it is ideally suited for the MA, like the La-7 and the Tempest. I'm glad it isn't faster than mid-pack down on the deck, or it would become the newest dweeb ride, like the "LaLa".

If at the end of a couple of tours we find the Mk.XVI with a significantly higher use percentage than the La-7, I'm relatively certain than HTC will perk it, or give it such a low ENY that it will have limited availability when numbers are lopsided. I'm hoping the Mk.VIII will cut into the Mk.XVI's usage. It's really not very far behind the Mk.XVI in speed and climb and does turn somewhat better. Either way, both new Spits are very impressive airplanes, and I'll be enjoying them.

As it is, the Mk.IX just became a hanger queen....

My regards,

Widewing

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Widewing
This is why I think the Mk.XIV should be unperked. It is a medium to high altitude fighter. Very fast, agile and dangerous indeed. However, in the MA it must do most of its fighting well below it optimal altitude. Down below 15k it's out of its element.

My concern about the Mk.XVI is that it is ideally suited for the MA, like the La-7 and the Tempest. I'm glad it isn't faster than mid-pack down on the deck, or it would become the newest dweeb ride, like the "LaLa".

If at the end of a couple of tours we find the Mk.XVI with a significantly higher use percentage than the La-7, I'm relatively certain than HTC will perk it, or give it such a low ENY that it will have limited availability when numbers are lopsided. I'm hoping the Mk.VIII will cut into the Mk.XVI's usage. It's really not very far behind the Mk.XVI in speed and climb and does turn somewhat better. Either way, both new Spits are very impressive airplanes, and I'll be enjoying them.

As it is, the Mk.IX just became a hanger queen....

My regards,

Widewing

The most noticable difference for me last night flying both the VIII and the XVI was the roll rate.  Those clipped wings really helped down low.  VIII felt that much heavier in the roll