[horseback]

Originally Posted by Woke Up Dead

Thanks again Horseback, this continues to be very interesting.

The results that surprise me and some other people are likely a result of us being unfamiliar with specific planes at specific altitudes.

For example, at first glance it is very surprising that the Yak 9 and the LaGG3-66 do better than the La-5FN, but in-game the 5-FN is a scary monster only below 2000m, and that's where most La pilots fly it; the experienced ones because they know it's good there, the novice ones because they don't have the patience to climb.

I suspect it's a similar situation with the P-38J vs the Mustang; without doing the kind of testing Horseback has done, I always felt the P-38J does really well on deck (that's where I go to if I need to run away from a 190), while the Mustang's worst altitudes are in the 3000m - 5000m range.

I also always thought the 109G2 can outrun and outclimb the MkV Spit anywhere so I was surprised that he Spit did a bit better in this test, but then again I believe 3000m is the sweet-spot for the Spit's performance.

Well, this was the '43 Spit V, not the '41 version that got butchered when it crossed the Channel. The Mk V was continually being improved until production ceased in (I believe) early 1943 in favor of later Marques. The later Mk Vs were still quite competitive below 17kft/5300m. Chances are that if we ran this test with an early Vb that its performance would be much less impressive, even compared with the 109F.

Regarding the P-38, it was faster accelerating than the Mustang (at least, any of the wartime versions) or the Thunderbolt at all altitudes, according to every reliable source I've found (and most of the unreliable ones as well; I'm tempted to make a clean sweep and hold a seance to get Martin Caiden's opinion). It makes sense; as I pointed out, it was designed for an exceptional rate of climb by the standards of the late 1930s, and after the advent of radar, climb rate became less important to the Allies than endurance/payload, speed and firepower. Nightfighters became the most important interceptors in the inventory after the Battle of Britain, and they didn't need to get to 20,000 ft in less than seven minutes.

We tend to conflate acceleration with speed to some degree, but I like to call acceleration being quick in the way that NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin defines it: "Fast is fast. Quick is being able get fast right away."

The Lightning and the Spitfire are quicker than the Mustang, but the Mustang is faster.

cheers

horseback