Originally posted by Trog
I would fit the plane to the personality of the player.
Turn and burner type =Spit 8 or Spit 16
Spit 8 turns better, but the spixteen is a killer with those 50's and cannons.
BnZer and slasher type= 51D or Typhoon
51 has great visibilty and is easy to fly, but the typhoon allows for a quick shot kill and lines up easy, helps with confidence for newer player.
One thing to consider: a new player in his first days of AH2 hasn't developed a personality yet.
Like Hammer already said, best is to give him a allround plane thats easy to fly, forgiving yet competitive. We "advanced" players tend sometimes forget about the sensor overload a new player suffers in his first weeks. All this info, the icons, the talk about "judging his energy", what is a goon? How do I use radio and map??...
And the Spit8 and 16 are not exactly burn & turn planes.
They turn quite well, but they also hold their E and accelerate & climb very good, so they do fit both playing styles. And that is what makes the Spit 8 a good beginner plane: Once you have mastered the flight basics, you can start to develop a preference for one type of fighting while still in the Spit. Once you do know what you like more, you can move on to true TnB or BnZ planes.