Interesting post:
I tend towards the Navy Birds for some reason. Back before every other con was a Spixteen, LA7, or Pony, I was in love with the FM2. I do remember mixing in a heavy dose of HurriIIc in these days also.
I'm not a patient type so I am usually found defending a base under heavy attack or upping from the nearest base to the furball or the field we are attacking. Thus I don't go for the planes that only hit their stride above 15-20k. My choice is also influenced by some strange need not to be in the best plane available (fastest-best guns-best turner) depending on the odds I'm expecting against me.
As the LW/MA mentality shifted more towards pick and run, I found the need for a little more speed which the F6F addressed acceptably for me while still allowing me to turnfight which is my preferred style of....play. Yet give me the ability to catch some of the runners as long as I have a little alt to trade. As well as give me the speed to run/extend long enough to maybe drag a few out of a horde before turning to fight them.
My current frustration with the uber rides has me evolving into the F4U series, a bird I've always loved and have recently learned to use fairly well. I can carry all the ord I want to target, chase down any Spixteen I see, and knife fight with the best of em. As long as I still have a little alt to trade for speed and the SA to recognize when i need to use it, I seem to make it out of the fray alive more than not!
I too have long used the NIKI for anti vulch/defense and have recently dabbled with the LA7 in order to catch the vulchers in their speedsters who run at the first sign of a fair fight emerging.
This said, I like to play around with many various rides depending on my mood mostly.
