Okay...can't really see the point of your Zeke-Goon comparison. I did not state as a problem that the SpitXVI enjoys a top-speed+turning+HP/weight advantage over a cargo plane of all things, or that it holds ever advantage over a single fighter. I stated as a problem that it is faster than many, many fighter planes which it also out-classes in turn, HP/weight, and usually roll. IOW, to quote a player who has been around the block a time or two..
BnZ, you are absolutely right in saying the Spixteen renders the vast majority of the planeset irrelevant.
These fighters are immediately below the SpitXVI when a weighted sort is done for low-alt speed, deck speed being probably what counts the most for survivability under MA conditions.
15.SpitXVI
16.P-47D-11
17.Fw-190 A8
18.Fw-190 F8
19.P-47D-40
20.Ki-84-Ia
21.P-38L
22.Fw-190 A-5
23.P-47D-25
All of these planes, with one exception, the Ki-84 (which has its own debilitating weaknesses, such as loosing parts at high speeds), not only suffer from a speed disadvantage, but also a very large turning and HP/weight disadvantage against the Spitfire at typical MA alts. To top it all off, everything but the Fw series has a roll disadvantage at most speeds and the Fw's edge is slim at best.
It cannot be said that these are "irrelevant EW planes", since all but two of them are *only* available in LW! Only the Fw-190 A-5 is even available in the EW, and as a perk plane. (Which is kind of bizarre in a game with unperked SpitXVIs and unperked La7s in the LW...the 190 may out-run everything in the LW but it out-turns *nothing*...but I digress.)
I am skeptical that having one LW fighter (well, actually two, what with the La7) so completely superior to so many planes, even LW ones, constitutes any sort of desirable "balance" in the LW MA.
It is truly amazing the staws and conclsions to prove something that is OBVIOUS not true. Simple fact the spit 16 is not even the most flown plane. Does not have the most kills.
HiTech
Another thing the SpitXVI does not have is a publicity machine in the form of the History Channel and etc. telling everybody that it was the "best plane of WWII". The fact that the XVI comes in a very close second to the single most famous American plane of WWII is itself telling. The largest single percentage of the LW MA prefers a plane which is somewhat mediocre for LW MA conditions, the P-51...I am well aware of this, but what of it? I am not concerned with whether or not a fickle public likes a particular plane, rather what it can do relative the rest of the set. It is also clear looking at the 2008 stats that SpitXVI usage would probably outstrip P-51D usage if it were not for competition from other members of the Spit family, or if the P-51 family was divided into more separate models itself.