I would like to see you in an A8 making defensive maneuvers mate.

Just fight below 6K and these two beauties will eat anything alive in an istant.

Plus - J2M5 is the best high altitude fighter in the sim, maybe only Ta 152 C or P-47 could compare with it at high altitudes.

Agreed.

A Fw190 of any type caught in a defensive position by a fighter like a Spitfire IX will almost certainly be destroyed, barring having a lot of altitude to dive away or interference from friendly aircraft.

Not that the Fw190 can't be a very effective fighter, but it bleeds energy very rapidly when forced into defensive manoeuvres, and lacks the energy building potential and low-medium speed manoeuvrability that some of the other top range fighters like the Spitfire IX 25lbs, LA7 or Bf109K4 have.

I would add that it does depend on the position and some other variables... D9s for instance are good accellerators and have the potential to to extend while the Antons at least the later ones are a bit lacking.

Early War Antons are more like the Dora series. They have enough accelleration to get away from Spits.

The last set of planes you posted are what I consider abnormally good planes. Spit 25 and LA7s are a bit on the silly side in terms of performance and render any Anton obsolete. A Dora might have a chance. The regular K4 is a good plane but not on part with the former. I would say the K4 C3 can put up a much better fight though I still say it goes to the Spit 25 and the LA7.

I-16 RATA and I-153. Simple turn and go hth, "cheater" ammunition gives pk 70% times.

Mig ammunition the same, but turns less. "Hyper full mega master power highlander pk ammunition"

I meant to put Bf109K4 C3, like you said the regular K4 is somewhat lower in performance, and since the only assets a late model Bf109 pilot has are top speed, climb rate, acceleration and to a lesser extent low speed handling, you want to have as much of these attributes as possible.

Of course, your right, the Spitfire IX 25lbs, LA7, Bf109K4 C3 and Fw190D9, along with the Ki-84, are very much the best rides in the sim (although mod users like myself have access to some other aircraft I would put in the same category, ie Spitfire XIV, P51-D, Ta152C, Tempest 13lbs etc), and as such you can expect to come across these aircraft very regularly online, so how your chosen ride copes with these aircraft is very important.

... on some servers. If all you are interested in is a furball dogfight, then pick your favourite uber-plane. I got bored with this sort of online experience quite quickly. I'd rather have a limited planeset, and more realistic goals. Flying the 'best plane' is less satisfying than being the 'best pilot', or at least doing the best you can.

I really enjoyed some of the I-16 Type 5 versus G.50 and Cr.42 dogfights that I've jumped into more recently. Those are always a blast and the usual dogfight experience changes considerably.

Best is always determined by what the planeset/time period is and of course the pilots.

Agreed.

The early war scenarios can be at least as much fun ;)
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/1552/scw1.jpg

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/806/scw2.jpg

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2779/scw3.jpg

Lol, I tried to dogfight a normal AI who I put in an I16 and couldnt get on his tail for nothing, I had I think my Spitfire....those BI planes turn on a pinhead....they seem to just stop in mid air and flip around.