I think it the perk penalty is taken from the what the perk cost was at the time you die.
Another question I have about perks is are the perk points after a mission also dependent on country numbers? When the Knights have has a numerical advantage in the arena, the perks generated seem to be less as they are when Knights don't have the number advantage.
For example, the other night when Knights had the numbers and our perk modifyer was something like .67, I shot down 2 flights of B-17s, 1 flight of B-26s, 2 P-51s and a Spitfire Mk XIV and succesfully landed my flight. The perk points generated was less than 6 perks. On another night when Knights were the low number country, I shot down 2 Spitfire Mk IXs and 3 La-7s and received over 10 perks for those kills.
ack-ack