Snapper, I'm not limiting my opinion on what I've seen in CloD.
I don't fly Clod. I did 34 hours, and most of them were for settings configuration. I just reported the fight in which my chasing Spitfire followed my from 6km to 500m over my base where me and 2 other guys killed him.
I'm taking about IL2 in general: so there are not only SpitI and 109E... I understand that the engine cut is an handicap... And it's a good thing that they implemented it (IL2 Spitfire's flown many years without the Miss Shilling's orifice). I also understand the weapon limitation.. it's all historical (but I question CloD's DM model: damage could be roughly modelled as FMs).
In many years of flight simming I almost can remember every time I found a Spitfire at high altitude dictating the fight: I remember them since with some of these pilots I've became friend (when somebody give me a good fight and fly well I'm used to make him my compliments). I remember many of my KIA (above all the one made by Jaws in his 190 against my spitfire... I learned a lot from that single kill) since I really hate to be killed.
But I can also not forget how many times I BnZed planes with target fixation who had a plane with better performance but didn't used it correcly (SpitIX should be untouchable by Fw190 and because of this it was my favourite prey...I fled only to kill them
).
The few time I entered in a CloD server it was the same thing (but with the addon of invisible planes, ghosts and monkeys operating the flaks).
Sadly my mind refuses to fly with CloD anymore, and so most of my teammates... 20 pilots with CloD, only one still fly it and it's one of the nicer poster here).
Anyway it's fun that you said about the spitfire veterans: I'm not used to fly spitfires but 2 weeks ago I've taken two cadets of my squad in a server... 1940, too many blue and so we took the RAF fighters... we took the SpitfireIs so they could learn the "enemy" plane. I told them to spawn on a base far from the coast because, I guessed, the 109s would come there and cap over our bases... "we spawn and gain altitude far from the coast. Then, with altitude, we enter in the combat zone"... I was right, after some minutes the 109s were there and I managed to kill 3 of them but I crashed while landing against an invisible building...
. God cried that night.
I think that the veterans should teach this "tactic", by Chat or by Briefing. With a so inferior plane RAF pilots should not pass the channel at 2km...
I will try to enter in the server to see if things are changed.