Originally posted by SuperDud
Well you kinda said it already. Use your speed. Don't try a slow dogfight with it. Keep your speed up, engage on your grounds, not his. With the exception of the spit16 the yak out climbs the spit by a good margin. And with the extra speed the yak has it can easily carry that extra E to out climb the spit16 as well. Biggest rule is not to let the spit slow you down. Try not to turn to tight unless you are sure you will get the kill. Keep things loose and hold onto your E.
Your advice is generally on target. However, the Yak-9U can only outclimb the Seafire, SpitI and SpitV. On the deck, the SpitIX is a bit better than the Yak, and the SpitVIII and SpitXIV climb much faster than the Yak.
You may perceive that the Yak climbs faster, but that is likely due to it having an E advantage and not due to climb rate. In fact, among the late-war fighters, the Yak offers just about the lowest climb rate, especially above 6,000 feet where its climb drops rapidly.
Go to
DokGonzo's comparison page and plug in the various aircraft to see their climb performance charted side-by-side.
My regards,
Widewing