You can outturn La-7's, Jugs and D9's, you can outvertical P-51's and P-38's, outrun Spits and Zekes.I'd like to comment on this one.
In the A5, you can outturn the D9 in a sustained turn. Of course, a smart D9 driver will keep speed up and do not hard turns but long, slow ones. Hit wep, bring it above 5k, and you'll be able to b&z the A5. Not kill him easily mind you, since he has the turning advantage, but at least have the offensive.
The LA-7 easily outturns the A5 at all altitudes. The difference is lowest between 0-5k where the A5 really shines. Not sure if the LA-7 outaccelerates the A5 below 5k, but it certainly does above 5k. It also has top speed, better low speed handling and better high altitude maneuvering. It should have: it's a much later plane than the A5.
The D11 will, in a sustained turnfight, outturn the A5 at all but the lowest altitudes. It has much superior low speed characteristics and can use its flaps to gain the advantage. The two other P-47s will be outturned by the A5 at quite low altitudes, but again, the use of flaps can cause the 190 pilots to drop so much speed he simply cannot follow. Break off or stall in. Depends on altitude. The A5 has roll rate and a great diving snapshot ability that the P-47 lacks. On the other hand, the P-47 has better guns. I made a comparison on the proper forum (aircraft and vehicles) a while back between these planes. Also got some secret testing which yielded interesting results - results I'll keep for myself since I want to live when fighting P-47s
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The P-51 outturns the A5 handily. In the vertical, given the same speed and g pull on the pullup, there were some tests done before, and IIRC, the results were very similar. As altitude increased, the advantage fell on the P-51. And, the P-51 easily wins a loop fight. The A5, however, can outaccelerate the P-51 at low altitudes and with a little smart flying (not going into specifics, wanna keep this one a LW secret too) get a good shot on a P-51 that chooses to saddle up. And, of course, much better roll rate.
It is important to keep in mind that the A5's engine really isn't optimized for high altitude - it's very good up to 5k, good tfrom 5 to 10, and bad from there up.
The P-38 has acceleration and turn rate on the A5. Again, at low altitudes, the A5 shines. The P-38 will also outloop the A5. I've seen Zigrat, Tac, Citabria and others use the P-38 really well: it usually has one advantage over each plane (except things like the LA-7) and as with the G10, if a good guy is behind the stick, it is a very lethal plane that just isn't very newbie friendly and takes time to get used to.
The A5 is a relatively slow plane, especially for a B&Z'er. It's faster than the dedicated turn fighters like the Spits, Hurricanes and zeros, but that's where the speed advantage really stops. The Spit XI is faster at high altitudes. YAK's, LA's, P-51s, P-47s etc are faster.
It's a great plane, but it shows that it's not a late war über plane.
