Spit tradeoff

[Yarbles]

The nicest Spit to fly is the IX imo though the 5/seafire come a close second but the latter are badly under powered in the MA.

In the MA the IX lacks a bit of speed and acceleration. The 8 is quicker and climbs better but doesn't seem to role nearly as well or turn so nicely. The 14 is speed and climb focused and has lost allot of agility and is a worse compromise than the 8.

I reckon the optimum performance is somewhere close to our 9 for the Spit design but wonder if there would be a bit more climb/speed to be had before getting to the slugishness of our 8.

In other words I would like to know if there is a possible Spit better than both the 8 and 9.( I doubt we will get it but I can't ask if I dont know what it is. Not the 16 which to me is not the great turn fighter the 8 and 9 are and the wings arn't nearly so pretty.  

[Bronk]

Give us our old Mk V back. Was the best spit before the addition of the VIII and XVI.  That or a Mk XII.

[Yarbles]

I worked out the 9 is infact more like the 5 than the 8 and was available with a more powerfull Merlin and the E wing with the 50's. I reckon that would be the optimum.

I wonder if I will live long enough to fly it    

[MachFly]

How about mk XVI without clipped wings?

The one we have right now it for low altitude operations.

[Yarbles]

How about mk XVI without clipped wings?

The one we have right now it for low altitude operations.

Yes Basically a mk9 with a Packard Merlin 66  

Unclip it and perk the clipped one to keep the anti spitters happy. Excellent idea

I would assume it easy for HTC to model. I would rather it was a 9 but that should be easy as the only differnce was the 16 engine was a packard no diff in perfomance I believe so re model it and call it a 9.  

Then we would have a mid war 9

A late war 9

The 8 as an atack plane with the bomb and for long range.

a perked clipped 16

and ideally halve the perk cost of the 14.

 

[SgtPappy]

The best compromise is indeed an 'uncllipped' XVI or simply a IX with a Merlin 66, like mentioned.

Though, I find it less than ideal because the Mk.VIII has more fuel and really, is far from sluggish at all.

It's just not as maneuverable as the IX. Drain some fuel, unload your 303's and you should be fine.

[MachFly]

Just for the record:

Yes Basically a mk9 with a Packard Merlin 66

A late war 9

That is exactly what is meant when you hear Spitfimk mk XVI. The 16 that we currently have is an LF version for low altitude. 

The 8 as atackack plane with the bomb and for long range.

All spitfires were engineered for air superiority roll. The reason why 8 has longer range is because it has a totally redesigned wing making it stronger and giving it room for 2 extra fuel tanks.

[715]

I long for the old Spit V.  (It's not like any of the Spits, except the XIV, are fast enough to get away, so I'd prefer the Spit V if its engine wasn't nerfed and the ammo load cut in half.)

[Raptor]

I feel like the seafire is most similar to the old spitV

[vonKrimm]

How about mk XVI without clipped wings?

The one we have right now it for low altitude operations.

This is why we have the XIV.

Give us the XII and there will be even more howls from the anti-spit crowd.

[MachFly]

This is why we have the XIV.

 
WHAT?

You realize they have different engines? There wings and tail are constructed totally different as well (and I don't mean the clipped wing part).

[Guppy35]

For AH in my opinion the best of the Spits is the VIII.  It's not any more an attack plane then the IX.  In fact the XVI is the one geared for low alt attack work with the wing hard points and the centerline hard point.

I think folks forget that 75 fuel in a VIII is more fuel then in the IX which makes it seem heavier as it has the extra leading edge wing tanks.  In real world Merlin Spit terms the VIII was considered the best of them by none other then Supermarine chief test pilot Jeffrey Quill.

Given that the AH Spit IX is based on the Merlin 61 and not the 66 like the VIII, the IX doesn't have the same power at lower alts as the 61 was geared towards higher altitude.  Give the AH Spit IX the Merlin 66 and it would be about the equal of the VIII.

In the end though I think it's personal preference in AH.  Some guys swear by the IX, others like me like the VIII while those who thing 16 must mean better then 8 or 9 because its a larger number take that

[Warspawn]

Which was the spit that had the 4xHispano option?  Now THAT would be happy days, indeed, for spit pilots.


Ah, found it:   Spitfire Vc's of 2 Sqn, 7 Wing, SAAF, Sicily, had that particular armament.

[Wmaker]

Well, then there's things like this...

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/w3228.html

That'd be rather sick. That's the ticket if you truly, I mean truly need to "compensate".

[Kev367th]

Raptor - Current Seafire is nothing like our 'old' Cropped Vc. Now a Seafire LIII Merlin 55M would be a different matter!

Warspawn - A few Aussie Spit VIII had quad Hispanos also (neither version in any numbers to speak of)

Better than the VIII or IX - Hmmm... A Clipped, Cropped and Clapped Merlin 55M Vc. As fast as the IX low level, more manoeverable than both.