Hear hear Leonid... but I've got a slightly different proposition for you (even though I don't play AH):
Take a four man formation of your best Yak pilots, a full tank of gas, and see how many planes you guys can splash before having to RTB.
Similarly, have someone like Hangtime take a four man group of AH's best P-51 pilots, a full complement of gas, and see how many kills they can get before they have to RTB.
Or simply make part of the duel contingent on taking off from a field at the edge of the territory, meeting at the center of the map, and having to RTB to the field you rolled from.
Not an easy proposition in the Yak... but reasonably straightforward for the 51 pilot.
Perhaps you see my point now? You are trying to compare two totally dissimilar aircraft which were designed for two entirely different jobs. The Yak is a point-defense aircraft, while the P-51 is a long-range escort that also was pressed into other duties. Remove a few thousand pounds of weight to turn the P-51 into a point-defense fighter with a 550 mile range and a late 1944 Merlin (e.g. - V-1710-119) and the results might be pretty interesting (the lightweight prototypes (F, G, and J), which were still designed for escort duty, racheted speeds up to 466, 472, and 491 TAS respectively). In fact, the P-51H (which was coming off the production lines by the beginning of February 1945) topped off at 487 TAS. Similarly, add enough fuel for another 1,500 miles range to the Yak-9U, as well as some extra guns, and add a mid 1943 engine, and you might find that the Yak performs alot like the P-51D.
Neither one is better... they are simply different planes, designed for different jobs. The Yak would have to be totally redesigned to provide long-range escort, and I would expect to see some pretty substantial changes if the P-51 was going to be explicitly used for point-defense or short-range A2G work.
------------------
SnakeEyes
o-o-o-
=4th Fighter Group=
[This message has been edited by SnakeEyes (edited 07-07-2000).]
