Excellent post, moot.
I agree that the 38 has plenty to offer, but it's status as a 'Jack of all Trades' is paradoxical. The biggest strength of the 38 is also it's biggest weakness. It does everything well enough to try, but that doesn't mean you should.
I had a big point for point response to some of what you've said, but I'll spare everyone that. A lot of that comes down to the minutia of the situation. My point to Karnak was the 38 is capable, but not 'easy' to learn.
The only point I will argue against is your comment on dive brakes. The 38L doesn't have dive brakes, it has dive recovery flaps that don't retard speed at all. If you meant "brakes" as in it forces overshoots easily, I can't really agree. I've had mixed results with most of my success probably being the result of the other guy screwing up. Other planes seem to force overshoots much easier.
Ok, and I'm saying this as someone who's consistently (8+years) flown one of those ridiculously handicapped BnZ planes in TnB fights: the 38 is a piece of cake
I'll briefly hop on your ankle and say you're not an average pilot. What comes easy to you is not easy for the
vast majority of us. /ankle off
You only get paid back for efforts once you reach a relatively high floor of piloting skill, but once you do the pay back is huge.
I think you and I agree on this, actually. The 38 in the hands of someone who knows it and how to make the best use of it in any situation will be successful. But it doesn't really come that easy to everyone. If it did, you'd see a lot more 38 drivers mixing it up on the deck.
From a Hurricane?
My way of saying that in most cases, diving away isn't an option for the 38.