Oh well, guess I'll thrown my hat into the discussion...... sorry to contribute to a hijacked thread.
There appear to be two main streams to the whole "what should/shouldn't be perked" argument:
1) if it entered service later than 19XX, or flys faster than Y mph, or goes higher than Z feet, was a contempory of YY.
2) if it throws off balance in the MA by being there as a result of relative strengths/weaknesses in the MA (as many claim the C-Hog or N1K does)
On the first point, well, I don't believe that it is totally fair in the MA to classify the plane in that method. Since we do have a strategic element to the MA with the ability to capture fields, it isn't all just dog-fighting in the sky. Something like the Lanc, with those 14*1K's could almost be considered unbalancing, but we all know that the Lanc has it's own deficiencies (climb, defense, etc). Would we want the Lanc perked because it can do this, or rather on it's total impact on MA play?
I think perking isn't just a "death nail" for any plane, just because it's perked doesn't mean that it'll be unaccessible to the average flier. I don't find "perk" as a black or white thing, so maybe everyone should look at the fact that we already have perks on one side of the equation, we earn perks based on a perk rating for aircraft.
This whole concept is really going to get interesting when we actually have something to spend perk points on. I know that I've already switched rides to something that had a better perk point earning capability, as it appears a number of others have. How many of you are flying a different ride primarily now as a result of earning perk points? I've seen half the number of C-Hog and N1K in the air, I almost expect F4U's to be D-Hogs now when I encounter them. I've also noticed maybe half the number of "Ban the C-Hog" or "Perk the N1K" threads on the bbs. That's probably a direct result of people flying other airplanes.
Like I said, I don't think perking something is black or white, it's sorta grey and it's something HTC will work on. I don't know that anyone is assuming that it will eliminate some of the powerful rides in the MA, but is sure will help control them.
-Soda