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Originally Posted by swift
Uhm, use a bit of imagination *hinthint*
This manoeuvre might have been in many cases a good excape manoeuvre because of a speed advantage of the 109 combined perhaps with a better climb performance when using a slow climb rate. With enough speed advantage there is no way a plance could catch up just by short cutting when the curve is wide enough however nimble the chasing plane was but it allowed to keep an eye on the pursuing aircraft which was likely the reason to fly a wide curve  |
"Long wide curves" are not going to allow a 109 to outturn a Spitfire which has decent speed. And they are only going to allow the 109 to keep away from the Spit unless the 109 is carrying more speed, because the Spit can always cut inside the circle.
It's all about speed. 109's simply have to keep their speed up.