Spitfires...

[CAP1]

The 16 is bad to furball with?  Because?

well......i may have not said that correctly. i love furballing in the 16. the problem i seem to have, is that....say for intance there's 9 bogies in the furball, and 3 or 4 friendlies.......i pull in on the 6 of one of hte bogies, and it seems as though the other 8 are suddenly intent on my spixteen...almost ignoring the other friendlies.....and i do get check six's from the friendlies as they're trying to clear my tail when i break off my target. i very much love the 20mm/50cal combo in her too,.,,,,,,,
but it almost seems as i get no special attention from the enemy if i'm in a hurri, any other version besides the 16, or any of the american rides.,,,,,,

<<S>>

[CAP1]

Not a problem if it's faster than people's lead.

that's why it IS a problem when i fly it in furballs.......when i saddle up almost anything cept a zeke, i eventually get the kill. but it seems to me that no matter what saddles me, i cannot for the life of me shake them off. kinda like a lead magnet

[CAP1]

How are any of the spits superior to the 16, in a dogfight?

my understanding was that the 5, 9, and i think 8 will all roll quicker, giving them a better initial turn rate?

[FrodeMk3]

The 5 gives' the impression of better turn rate because it's slower than the others, therefore, It's instant turn rate is better. It might be a slightly steadier gun platform as well.

[But flying the P-38J right now, I think the Spitfire's got itself in for trouble versus the real vetical E-fighting crowd. /quote]

A Spit will almost helicopter on it's prop like a N1K. In the right hands, a spit can dominate a vertical fight. Not quite like a 109, but close.

[Serenity]

well......i may have not said that correctly. i love furballing in the 16. the problem i seem to have, is that....say for intance there's 9 bogies in the furball, and 3 or 4 friendlies.......i pull in on the 6 of one of hte bogies, and it seems as though the other 8 are suddenly intent on my spixteen...almost ignoring the other friendlies.....and i do get check six's from the friendlies as they're trying to clear my tail when i break off my target. i very much love the 20mm/50cal combo in her too,.,,,,,,,
but it almost seems as i get no special attention from the enemy if i'm in a hurri, any other version besides the 16, or any of the american rides.,,,,,,

<<S>>

Perhaps thats because everyone hates Spixteens because EVERYONE flies them, and they are so easy to kill with... I know I always target spixteens, la-7s and P-51s first.

[CAP1]

Perhaps thats because everyone hates Spixteens because EVERYONE flies them, and they are so easy to kill with... I know I always target spixteens, la-7s and P-51s first.

that was the impresion i get.......i'm slowly working my way out of spits to other rides...had some succes with the hellkitty, and a little luck with the ponyb...but when i need to kill fast, it's bakc to the "easy button" planes.....zeke, spits, and hurris.........hope to get into the 38 soon.......

[moot]

that's why it IS a problem when i fly it in furballs.......when i saddle up almost anything cept a zeke, i eventually get the kill. but it seems to me that no matter what saddles me, i cannot for the life of me shake them off. kinda like a lead magnet

That was sort of a word play.. You can't outrun their lead but you can outrun their lead.  The spit16 is agile enough that you can out pace pretty much any other plane in the game.  The zekes might turn tighter, but if you aren't bleeding your E you will out pace them too.

my understanding was that the 5, 9, and i think 8 will all roll quicker, giving them a better initial turn rate?

The 16 is the fastest rolling spit, and by far IIRC.

[Bruv119]

5 , 8 , 9   are my favourites.  The spit 8 is the best all round due to fuel longevity.  The 9 is probably the best overall furballer.  The 16 is a monster but its weak point is slow speed turns compared to the 8 and 9.


If you want to accumulate some perks the spit 5 is great the 9 isnt bad either at 20 eny.

When you have enough perks try the spit 14 with some altitude.  This baby is different from all the rest but its great fun running down various luftwobbly planes 

[MiloMorai]

Why is the Spit XVI better than the Spit IX? They were basically the same airframe but powered by engines from different manufactures.

[moot]

It's that much more dextrous, and being lighter means it can take the same bends as the (if I understand correctly) more powerful models with minimal speed loss.

[Karnak]

Spitfire Mk Vb has two Hispano Mk Is, all other Spitfires have two Hispano Mk IIs.  The difference between the Hispano I and II is that the I is drum fed and can be unjammed by hand (not accessable in the Spit's wing) and the II is belt fed and had the manual unjamming mechanism removed.  The barrels are exactly the same.

Also, you aren't giving any speed up going from the V to the VIII, you are gaining lots of speed, acceleration, climb, ammo and some fuel for the loss of some turning ability.

Why is the Spit XVI better than the Spit IX? They were basically the same airframe but powered by engines from different manufactures.

That would be the clipped LF.IX with a Merlin 66.  We have an early Mk IX with a Merlin 61, so it is significantly lower performing at most AH combat alts.  Better above 20ish thousand feet.

[Guppy35]

Why is the Spit XVI better than the Spit IX? They were basically the same airframe but powered by engines from different manufactures.

1943 Merlin 61 Spit FIX and a 1945 Merlin 266 in the LFXVI.  More Boost available in the XVI I believe.  It's got a lower alt rated engine etc.  The IX isn't that far behind.  The LFVIII we have is right between them performance wise with its merlin 66.

For whatever reason the VIII feels like the best of them to me.  Doesn't roll as fast as the XVI but feels more stable and less apt to drop a wing if you are really hauling it in a turn.

[Ack-Ack]

Perhaps thats because everyone hates Spixteens because EVERYONE flies them, and they are so easy to kill with... I know I always target spixteens, la-7s and P-51s first.

We're still waiting on your "Uber-UFO Spitfire Mk XVI" film....


ack-ack

[BaldEagl]

Well, being the long-time Spit guy that I am here's the (partial) lowdown:

In terms of turn rate (best to worse):  Spit I, Spit V, Spit IX, Seafire, Spit VIII, Spit XVI, Spit XIV
In terms of speed (fastest to slowest):  Spit XIV, Spit XVI, Spit VIII, Spit IX, Seafire, Spit V, Spit I

The I has 8x.303's.  The XIV and XVI have 2x20's and 2x50's.  The others all have 2x20's and 4x.303's.

The XVI rolls the best but it is the worst stall-fighter as it's not as stable as the others, but once you get used to where the instability is it's just fine.  The XIV is also bad but it wasn't designed for stall-fighting.

Every one of them is a fine ride in the LW MA's, including the lowly, oft-forgotten Spit I.

[moot]

Spit8 vs Spit16: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U5Q8GTK2
First fight shows what IMO only the 16 can pull off - spiraling out of the top of a loop with minimal altitude loss and a very quick change of direction.  I could probably do it really well if I knew the plane better; it's certainly capable of it.
Second fight shows the 16's longer legs. Barbossa beat me more often than not in the series of fights we had, but it was clear everytime that the 16 can speed itself out of the way much more easily than the 8 can.

I agree with 2Bighorn that the 16 and 8 have two things versus one another, roll and light weight (~350 lbs) for the 16 and more lift and (hmmmm... ) for the 8, but that the 16 edges it out.
In his opinion the 16 only edges it out, but although I now think it's less superior to the 8 than I used to, I still think it's a pretty substantial margin.. I think the 16 is bar-none the best furballer in the game.

I certainly don't think it's the worst stall fighter spit.  That's probably the V or IX, if I understand correctly that the VIII is better than those two.  The 16 is just too quick for the lesser amount of lift to be a real handicap.  And it's definitely light enough that you can throw it around to great effect, which the others don't cope with as well, in my experience.