Looking at Kill Stats for last tour

[Debrody]

dora has no flaps, bad ballistics and views

Im pretty sure that at slow speeds the Dora handles better than the pony. Medium and high speeds, the pony wins though.

Ballistics... meh... still fairly good and 500 rounds from the 20mm is enough for anything.

Views are awesome on the Dora.

Where it really suffers against the pony is the combat radius and flying time. Chopping the throttle wont help too much either as it does on the La7.

One more note: my favourite matchup was a Dora against a well-flown, agressive pony. Just wonderful how evenly they are matched.

[BnZs]

Views are awesome on the Dora.

Generally yes, but the frames on the forward cockpit seem PERFECTLY designed to be in the way just as you are ready to squeeze the trigger on a crossing deflection shot.  

One more note: my favourite matchup was a Dora against a well-flown, agressive pony. Just wonderful how evenly they are matched.

Yes, it is quite fun getting these two planes slow against each other. The fight WILL be ended by a Spit or the like coming in and killing one of you now that you are both slow of course. 

[Debrody]

The fight WILL be ended by a Spit or the like coming in and killing one of you now that you are both slow of course. 

that bugger           

[PJ_Godzilla]

Generally yes, but the frames on the forward cockpit seem PERFECTLY designed to be in the way just as you are ready to squeeze the trigger on a crossing deflection shot.  
Yes, it is quite fun getting these two planes slow against each other. The fight WILL be ended by a Spit or the like coming in and killing one of you now that you are both slow of course. 

THat's like Dr. Death last night - twice: First was a matchup b/w me in the XVI and a K-4. MAge fought bravely but it was fairly easy to just do a brainless high-g lead pursuit on him. Of course, I was fixated and Dr. Death finished me shortly after Mage died.  The next one was with a Ki that put up a more extended fight. I oiled him but couldn't quite get the kill before Dr. D showed up.

Regardless, the XVI is the brainless man's fighter. You've got to do something stupid/careless, be grossly outnumbered, or have your X-52 come unplugged (happened last night twice) to die in it. It kind of suffers for this - it's less intriguing/challenging. I want to fly JUNK.

Besides, I still do dumb things all the time, given that death is riskless here.

Anyway, let me reiterate, just to be provocative: Spit XVI = da shif'less man's way to make a bazillion kills...

[Kodiak]

Anyway, let me reiterate, just to be provocative: Spit XVI = da shif'less man's way to make a bazillion kills...

From what I understand, the Spit XVI was a fantastic pure dogfighter in WWII...one of the best of the war.

[BnZs]

Anyway, let me reiterate, just to be provocative: Spit XVI = da shif'less man's way to make a bazillion kills...

It has it's failings but few of them are in the dogfight itself.

I think the Spixteen tends to make a large number of other fighters which might otherwise be flown semi-hangar queens, (The "junk" you speak of) since it is as fast or faster than so many things while out-turning them as well, with class of the field guns, roll, and acceleration. In the MA it is important to either be very fast or very maneuverable to deal with the 2nd most popular plane, leaving many planes that are in the middle on the speed/turning ability spectrum out in the cold. Of course, this is counterbalanced to an extent by the fact that Aces High has a semi-taboo against the best pilots flying the SpitXVI a lot.

[Scca]

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.

The IX has a high KD because it comes in pink.  Right Pepprr?

I really like the 47M, it's my main 51 chaser.  When it meets a 51 co alt/E it runs...  By the time it returns, I am gone...  Once slow, the 190 is poopy.

[Rich46yo]

I dont fly the 16 cause it has no challenge to it. Not that Im a top gun but the freaking thing does everything either well or great. IMO it deserves a perk even more then the La-La. 2 Hispanos and 2 0.50s are a premium ATA package. The thing climbs like a monkey, rolls and dives well, turns well, accelerates tremendously. Ive always been embarrassed after getting killed while in a spitxteen cause I know it was my fault for doing so. Mostly it happens when I put myself in a bad position against a superior pilot.

[PJ_Godzilla]

I dont fly the 16 cause it has no challenge to it. Not that Im a top gun but the freaking thing does everything either well or great. IMO it deserves a perk even more then the La-La. 2 Hispanos and 2 0.50s are a premium ATA package. The thing climbs like a monkey, rolls and dives well, turns well, accelerates tremendously. Ive always been embarrassed after getting killed while in a spitxteen cause I know it was my fault for doing so. Mostly it happens when I put myself in a bad position against a superior pilot.

Exactly. I'm not the greatest stick in the game but, in a Spix, it's fairly east to outduel a high-ranking K-4 stick or bring a skilled KI driver to his knees. Even on takeoff, you've got vulch-proof evasives once you're off the concrete. The thing is just uber. I was holding edge of stall easily in it. The VIII and IX are more challenging - but, imj, the VIII can make evil reversals because of its wingloading.

I'd support perking it. It's like a bunghole or bellybutton - everybody's got one, seems like.

All that said, I ruined a pair of Spix's day - they were both newbs but I must've PW'ed the first guy because he took off and showed as kille dlater. The first guy was already smoking when I found him - and he fought, and died. But that was Spix on Spix ultraviolence. - and sweet ultraviolence it was.
Perk it. In fact, perk most of the late war crap. Let's get people to rediscover the art.

[Kodiak]

In fact, perk most of the late war crap. Let's get people to rediscover the art.

I was going to give this a thumbs up, but then I thought "in the Late War Arena?"

I tried to fly a P-40 and a Wildcat exclusively in the LWA for a month last year and it was a joke.  Too bad there are not more people in the mid and early war arenas.  The LWA is all about the uber planes which I think include the Spit XVI, Pony, K4, Ki-84, La-7, Dora and company, not just the hated 16 and Pony.

[FLOOB]

It's the plane that won the war!

Peeps don't fly just the planes that are the best for the job. They fly what they like.

What's irrational about that?

[Crash Orange]

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

Yes. The P-51 suffers worse than most from dropping one bomb and having an unbalanced load. In a P-47 or especially an F6F or F4U (both of which carry the bombs inboard of the gear, unlike the pony) I hardly notice the difference, in the P-51 it's enough to affect my aim on the second bomb run. That's really only important for killing GVs because with anything else you're most likely going to line up to drop both bombs on the same run. I almost never fly 38s but I imagine they'd be more stable than any of the single-engine planes with an unbalanced load.

The P-51 and 109K4 seem to be the planes of choice for picking from nosebleed alt. That plus the fact that the K4 is a much tougher plane to fly probably account for a lot of the pony's popularity and success for air-to-air combat. People aren't taking risks in them.

I'm sure that the stigma attached to the Spit XVI is a major factor in both its lesser popularity and its lower-than-expected k/d rate. Because of the stigma more experienced pilots leave it to newbies who are doomed regardless of what they're flying.

[Schen]

I'm glad the spitfire 16 is easy to fly, as is the 51. Both offer new pilots planes that fit nicely into the bnz and turn roll. To those that continue to fly them after being new, its there 15 bucks and if that's what they enjoy all the power to them.

[BnZs]

I'm glad the spitfire 16 is easy to fly, as is the 51. Both offer new pilots planes that fit nicely into the bnz and turn roll. To those that continue to fly them after being new, its there 15 bucks and if that's what they enjoy all the power to them.

The P-51 IS easy to fly. You can take off, cruise about, and land in it very easily. Of course, that is true of most planes in AHII.

But when it comes to DOGFIGHTING anything actually aware of your presence, the P-51 and the SpitXVI are light-years apart in how simple they are to kill with, as PJ has been pointing out.

[Kodiak]

The P-51 and 109K4 seem to be the planes of choice for picking from nosebleed alt. That plus the fact that the K4 is a much tougher plane to fly probably account for a lot of the pony's popularity and success for air-to-air combat.

I've always found the K4 easier to fly and fight in than the P-51, and have always had a better K/D ratio in the K4.  The P-51 doesn't have the acceleration, rate of climb, or the drop dead firepower that the K4 has, so I think ease of use depends on the pilot.  I would put a newb in a K4 before a Pony if choosing between the two.