So basically the clipped wing is the issue. The better roll rate and the limited speed increase from it makes it too much. There goes my Spit XII right out the window then.
Without a clipped wing, all Spitfires have at least one weakness...poor roll at high speed. Again, you act like it is simply awful and a death sentence to fly a Spitfire that actually has a major weakness. As I pointed out before, the SpitIX was one of the most popular and effective MA planes before the VIII and XVI were added. Yet you will sit here and tell me that even the VIII is not effective enough to compete in the LW MA with a straight face.
That in itself makes the 16 a bird that should never be perked. The Air Quake crowd won't move back to Spit 8s or 9s. They'll be back in LA7s.
First of all, the La7 also deserves a light perk price. Second, I highly doubt your logic. The La7 is inferior to the Spit16 in every way except top speed. The Spit8 would be the next logical plane of choice for someone who prefers the Spit16. The La7 is simply nowhere near the fighter any Spit is in average hands. If I'm destroying an La7 OR forcing it to run, either option is fine by me. If I wanted to be snide about it, I'd say something along the lines of, what's a matter Gupp, don't have the skillz to sucker a fast plane in, force him to overshoot, and snap-shoot him? But we are both too good to use the tactics of feces-throwing monkeys, something which unfortunately is not universally true of the entire BBS.