Originally posted by Chinchy
the mossy will outpower and outfly a p38 if its used right in fact a mossy an outfly anything aslong as you keep its E up run it on a 25% tank
and it flys at 400-480 at cruse speed
I went round and round with a Mossie one night in a Ta-152 and we were pretty evenly matched in a slow turn fight on the deck. In fact he had a very slight edge and I'd have to extend occasionally but overall it was pretty close. There's no way a Mossie would outfly a P-38.
As to the topic at hand;
The FM2 is by far the best turn-fighter of the US planes but it's pretty specialized. It's generally too slow for much else.
The F4F is right behind it but the FM2 is really just an updated F4F so you may as well fly the FM2.
I also like the F6F in a furball and I've beat Spits with it one-on-one. You have to try to hold some speed and use flaps only at the right times to be effective with it.
The P-38G is another fun plane to turn fight in. Often you won't need to use flaps in the 38G. It turns pretty well on it's own but you may find an occasional need.
My final choice is the F4U-1A. Try to keep some speed with the F4U and again, use flaps judiciously.
Those are just my personal preferences. Statistics probably say something else.