I am not going to reference to this specific incident as I was not there and there's always three versions to every engagement...His version, the other guy's version and what really happened....but...
Fighter combat aircraft in reality and therefore their approximate respective models in AH were designed specifically to perform in a mutual support capacity. Fighter aircraft were not intended to be employed individually against a single opponent in a hermetically sealed off environment. They were designed to support and mutually assist one another against a multitude of usually dissimilar performing aircraft. This environment is roughly approximated in the MA but with much more diversity, making this fact even more important.
The poorer an aircraft's turning radius the more poorly suited it is to face-off against a single enemy who can outmaneuver it (other factors being equal of course). Obviously, if the poorer turner has a distinct energy or positional advantage he can force the turner into the defensive mode temporarily. But, a decent stick in a very maneuverable plane who has a modicum of SA can generally ruin a guns solution long enough to equalize E states forcing the less maneuverable opponent to retreat or fight at a severe disadvantage. Anyone who has tried to bounce Greebo's F6F can attest to this truth.
The fiction perpetuated in the game that everyone must 1 vs 1 every plane they come across is simply a perverted manifestation of "internet bravado" with no basis in reality and entirely out of context with the design concepts of the planes we fly. The early war rides that turn on a dime and give you change are best suited to the 1 vs 1 as they will almost always be more maneuverable than their opponent. If everyone accepted every 1 vs 1, regardless of the situation and match-up, pretty soon we'd all be flying nothing but Spits, Hurricanes, Zekes and Nikis. We can see by the relative unpopularity of the Early War arena that this mode of gaming does not hold much interest for the vast majority of players.
The faster, less manuverable, later war, rides are interesting because they offer more of a challenge than simply being able to latch onto a guy's six and stay they until he either dies or you get picked. The fact that there are faster planes about that do pick the more maneuverable planes actually facilitates gameplay balance. If there was not this intrinsic liability to the relatively time consumung vulnerability of the "ride the saddle and hammer away" approach it would be practically futile to fly any plane but the top 3-4 flavors of turners. I am sure most will agree there's already sufficient prevalence of Spits, Nikis and Hurricane's in the MA...
