akak,
The last time I flew it, I flew it as a E fighter (same as I fly the Mk IX usually). Blew the tail off of a Bf110G-2 (didn't get the kill as he chose to ride it 25,000ft down and I didn't live that long), but was then attacked by a higher F4U-1D (or F4U-1) that had come into icon range as I begain my dive on the 110. I didn't see him until after I had killed the 110. I tried to climb away, but he had too much E on me. I tried to dive away because turning in a perk plane virtually gaurantees that you'll lose it. This guy was, unfortunatly for me, willing to burn ammo, not a bad shot and lucky. He got a few pings, them pilot kill. Climb rate alone cannot get you out of a bad situation. You need dive speed and level speed to acomplish that. Climb alone doesn't work because any higher con that shows up completely negates that escape route. Speed can be equalized by diving (both aircraft will have roughly the same compression limits) and then leveling. That means a plane like the Me262 or Tempest always has an out if it maintains any reasonable ammount of altitude below it.
If the P-38 can out turn the Mk XIV there is something very wrong in the FM. The Spitfire Mk XIV has much, much lower wingloading and a better power to weight ratio. To put it bluntly, I don't believe that the P-38 can even come close to sustaining a turn fight with a Mk XIV.
Verm,
Read my long post. I state that the Spitfire Mk XIV is frequently flown incorrectly, when it is flown. Which is practically never. Even with its boosted usage due to people mistakenly taking it instead of a Spitfire Mk IX, it only had 376 kills as of yesterday evening. Clearly the Spitfire Mk XIV, like the F4U-4, are not worth the price.
Remember, the Spitfire Mk XIV must use its WEP in combat or you might as well have taken a Spitfire Mk IX. Because it has to use its WEP for fighting to even begin to justify its perk price, very little of the WEP is left when it needs to run. Without WEP a Spitfire Mk XIV climbs at a good, but not steller, 3,900 feet at its best altitude of 11,000ft. That altitude is too low to be useable, any Spitfire Mk XIV at that low of an altitude in a combat zone is a dead Spitfire Mk XIV unless it has a great stick in it. The vast majority of us are not great sticks. At its more survivable altitude of 20,000ft it has a MIL climb of 2,600ft per minute. At 20,000ft the Spitfire Mk IX climbs at 2,700ft per min. on MIL and 3,300ft on WEP, the Bf109G-10 at 3,400 and 3,700. the Fw190D-9 at 2,400 and 3,000, the P-38L at 2,800 and 3,300, the P-47D-30 at 2,300 and 3,000 and the P-51D at 2,400 and 2,750. The Spitfire Mk XIV's climb is not that much better at altitude, and down low where its climb rate is that much better there will be enemies coming in from high enough to completely negate its climb, and all of those enemies will be gunning for it.
For what its worth, I think the Spitfire XIV should absolutely be a perk plane. I simply think that the perk icon renders it unusable. As AKIron said, double jeopardy is too much to ask. The perk planes have to be a reward if the perk system is to work, and with gangbang calling icons they aren't anywhere near a reward. I can get gangbanged for free anytime I want. All I have to do is fly my Mosquito into an area where the enemy holds the numbers (I fly Rook, its easy to find those places). Why should I pay 20-70 of my "reward" points just to ecperience that?
SKurj,
CC. I misunderstood you. Sorry.
Without the perk icons, the prices are fine. With the perk icons, the aircraft are pointless.
hblair,
Thanks. Unfortunately, I won't even fly the Spitfire Mk XIV in the newly proposed arena. It will still have the "SPIT14" icon and still call a gangbang onto itself.
