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they also generate more drag and reduce the speed of the aircraft
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Right....
What you don't understand is that speed reduction reduces radius and improves turn performance until Va is reached.
The airplane that slows down the fastest to Va will win the instantenous turn fight.
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Hence the often quoted anecdotal comments by Luftwaffe veterans that the "better" 109E pilots would deliberately alternate between slats in and out, using the slats temporarily to tighten the turn or pull lead and then almost immediately easing on the stick to regain lost speed.
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Exactly.
He is flying a yo-yo and not a constant altitude turn. By combining the climb advantage of the Bf-109 at low speed climbs with the advantage of the slats, Erwin Leykauf is defeating the constant altitude turn performance advantage of the Spitfires he is fighting.
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In most cases this steep climb at low airspeed was the only manceuvre whereby the Me.109 pilot could keep away from the Hurricane or Spitfire.
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http://kurfurst.org/Tactical_trials/...ls/Morgan.html
The Bf-109 and Spitfire are about as equal a match of dogfighters as one can get.
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Above quote from 'Last of the few' by Max Arthur, combat report of a pilot of the 64th Squadron RAF, F/O Michael Wainwright.
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Are you fishing and this is bait?
What was the condition of the Bf-109 and the pilot? Was the aircraft damaged? Was the pilot wounded? Was it a real spin or did the pilot pass out??
In otherwords, it is an interesting story but without the details definately does not contradict the findings of the RLM or the RAE.