I'm a bit suprised at the data....

[humble]

on the spitXVI on the "gonzoville" charts. I certainly am in no position nor do I have any reason to dispute the #'s. Taking them as "gospel"......

The spitXVI out turns the spitVIII with no flaps (very marginally) and is slightly inferior (again marginally) with flaps. speed, climb and acceleration are all very marginally in favor of the spitXVI (by fairly small margins). In effect the planes are functionally equivelent with the XVI being technically double superior at all but the slowest speeds.

Yet I perceive a very real difference between the two both as an adversary and as a "pilot". I realize that turn radius and rate are different and so is the "sweet spot". Do we have accurate "dog house" charts on both (as per AH modeling)? I'm a bit fasinated that planes with such identical numbers are perceived so differently by much of the community (myself included)....

[bozon]

What fuel load are they tested with? the VIII carries a lot more fuel than the XVI.

Also, the minimum radius test is not the real measure of turning ability, only some rough estimator. In practice you rarely get to these conditions. In addition, these tests doesn't report how responsive and stable the plane is. Consider the 109's before the last version. They could potentially turn great but were a ***** to handle at these speeds.