Looking at Kill Stats for last tour

[TonyJoey]

P-51s don't stand much chance 1v1 vrs  a Spit16 or La7, yet get twice the usage...

Only if you get jumped really. Above about 7k you outrun an La-7, and you can get away from a Spit16 without too much trouble. Simply reset the fight on your terms and there's not much they can do. The La7 is tougher because it will track you down on the deck, but once again you can use the high-speed flaps to force an overshoot on most pretty easily. Some of the best pilots in an La-7 can track you down and kill you, but I would chalk that up to SA more than anything. If you do get forced into that situation, the 51 can still put up a helluva fight and he'll have to really know his stuff if he wants to kill you.

[BnZs]

Only if you get jumped really. Above about 7k you outrun an La-7, and you can get away from a Spit16 without too much trouble. Simply reset the fight on your terms and there's not much they can do. The La7 is tougher because it will track you down on the deck, but once again you can use the high-speed flaps to force an overshoot on most pretty easily. Some of the best pilots in an La-7 can track you down and kill you, but I would chalk that up to SA more than anything. If you do get forced into that situation, the 51 can still put up a helluva fight and he'll have to really know his stuff if he wants to kill you.

Well yes, but my point was the D9 disengages at will from most things even easier because of it's high power/weight ratio.

[SmokinLoon]

The D-9 is a very challenging aircraft to use.  It can roll very well, climb very well, accelerate very well, zoom climb very well, maintains E very well, the guns are good (bad ballistics???), and the views are well enough (though not as giving as others).  I think the only plane that turns worst (sustained) is the 190A/F-8.  Take away its speed and it is much easier to deal with. 

Take speed away from the La7 and P51x, and they both can still dance.

The Spitfire Mk XVI is by far the most agile plane in the game, and it is fast too.  Its worst attribute is its longevity in the fight thanks to limited ammo.  That mostly comes in to play vs bombers though.   

[PJ_Godzilla]

I didn't get the "bad ballistics" handle on the D9 either - although it'd certainly apply to the K-4. Otherwise, that latter has excellent speed once you get some alts and reasonable turn rates that can be used against other fast birds, if not against turny birds. The climb is, of course, excellent.

[Lusche]

P-51s don't stand much chance 1v1 vrs  a Spit16 or La7, yet Ponies get twice the usage of either...

... and the Pony has a overall K/D of 1.25 vs the Spit 16 this year so far.

The Pony is a truly great, easy to fly plane and well balanced for general MA usage. In a classic 'duel' the Spit 16 holds the cards for sure, but it's in the Pony pilot's hands to not let it come to that.

[Karnak]

People keep saying the P-51D is the best fighter-bomber in the game.  It is not.  The P-38L carries more and gets it to the target faster.  The P-47D-40/P-47N carry even more, but do take longer to get to the target.  The Typhoon and Mosquito carry almost as much and get to the target much faster.

For my money, the P-38L is the best fighterbomber in AH.

[BnZs]

... and the Pony has a overall K/D of 1.25 vs the Spit 16 this year so far.

The Pony is a truly great, easy to fly plane and well balanced for general MA usage. In a classic 'duel' the Spit 16 holds the cards for sure, but it's in the Pony pilot's hands to not let it come to that.

TJ specified 1v1 when he compared the D9 and P-51 though.

BTW, 1.25? That is actually doing incredibly well versus the P-51 considering the Pony is so 30+mph faster and probably vulches a ton of Spixteens.

[Lusche]

People keep saying the P-51D is the best fighter-bomber in the game.  It is not.  The P-38L carries more and gets it to the target faster. 

And this is probably why 26% of the P-38L's kills are vehicles, while it's only about 8% for the P-51D 

[Golden Dragon]

And this is probably why 26% of the P-38L's kills are vehicles, while it's only about 8% for the P-51D 

Not too many seem to take the time to learn to fight the P-51 air to ground from what I've seen.  It's by far my favorite plane in the game.

[Lusche]

Not too many seem to take the time to learn to fight the P-51 air to ground from what I've seen.  It's by far my favorite plane in the game.

Bombing tanks in a  P-51D that much different from a P-38 or P-47? 

[BnZs]

I'm confused by the words "air-to-ground" and "fight" occurring in the same sentence. 

[save]

Mossie should be one of the favorites for fighter-bomber missions.

Bozon fly away from my A8 with 2 bombs in his cargo-bay, 4*20mm Hispano and 4000 small caliber rounds on top of that.

[Bruv119]

Mossie should be one of the favorites for fighter-bomber missions.

Bozon fly away from my A8 with 2 bombs in his cargo-bay, 4*20mm Hispano and 4000 small caliber rounds on top of that.

and? Mossies are awesome!   twice a Spitfire!  Wooden Wonder!

Looking at the graphs Mosssie without WEP 9k is most advantage 5k with WEP.  I guess the twin engines give it that little extra oomph when those heights are usually pretty decent for the A8.   

[SmokinLoon]

People keep saying the P-51D is the best fighter-bomber in the game.  It is not.  The P-38L carries more and gets it to the target faster.  The P-47D-40/P-47N carry even more, but do take longer to get to the target.  The Typhoon and Mosquito carry almost as much and get to the target much faster.

For my money, the P-38L is the best fighterbomber in AH.

Depends on the mission really.  If the goal is to level a single target, the Mossi lags behind in the high speed dive category to be able to drop all 4 bombs, or 2 bombs/8 rockets, and use a few hundred pounds worth of cannon damage as compared to a P47, P38, or P51 with dual 1k bombs and rockets.  The Mossi is better a hammering a town than a P51 thanks to the 4 bombs and cannon (and dont forget the mountains of .30 cal ammo either!).  Either way, it can bring the pain faster.     But... it does lack the capability to be a pure fighter once the ords are gone, it is simply too lumbering to contend with the automatic La7 that is going to pop up.

[bozon]

Not surprisingly, the P-51D had the most kills with 13,903. What does surprise me a bit is the 190-D9(6672), La7 (6663), and P-47M (4287). Similar role planes, each one superior to the PonyD in several respects, yet far less usage.

Second in sheer number of kills was the SpitfireXVI, with 7050. The two other important spits in the MA, the VIII and the IX added 2241 and 2204 kills respectively, bringing the total for the 3 significant Spits up to 11,495. The XVI had the highest k/d, at 1.21, followed by the IX at 1.07. The VIII lagged at third with .98. I guess roll rate really is important.

Mosquito VIs had 1936 kills and 1.26 K/D. not bad.
Except that just 3 players account for 30% of those kills...

<S> NikonGuy and Razor
Honorable mention to Skully7