Punishment of the high-performance interceptors is a lousy justification for 2x fuel burn because it equally punishes the mediocre interceptors. It is collective punishment where many of the victims have nothing to do with the guilty.
Yes they do - short range.
If you put fuel burn to 1.0, the distinction between short range & long range fighters is more or less lost when even those with the smallest endurance have a crusing time of 40-50 minutes even without reducing power. You just remove one performance attribute that is setting planes apart from each other from the game.
Then drop the fuel burn. I guarantee the number of 109s will shoot up.
You wanna know which planes numbers will shoot up? Spit 16 and La-7
Fuel is no reason at all you don't see that many 109's. At cruise speed, they can go for long distances even without DT, which is also available. Unlike the La-7, I never had any fuel problems and could easily reach any fight I did want to, even at high altitudes.