Why fly the Spitfire?

[Winger]

Originally Posted by Buzpilot

There is a capable plane, Spit MkIIa, but most servers are in favour of 109's, so their afraid to fight it, and disable it in menu.

Spit IIa simply doesnt belong into the BOB. At least not in even numbers. Period.
The Spit Ia is better in turning. A good 109 pilot will always have an edge over a spit if he plays the game using his advantages. Just dont engage in a fight if youre on even or lower energylevel with a spit. You can only win such an encounter if the 109 pilot is dumb and starts tunfighting your spit.

I for my part have big fun paying the game from the BnZers perspective this time. In ROF i was turn and burning on german side for almost 2 years (what else could I do with all allied planes being faster and better climbers). In CloD i am forced to BnZ. And it works.

Winger

Winger

[609_Huetz]

Originally Posted by Winger

Spit IIa simply doesnt belong into the BOB. At least not in even numbers. Period.
The Spit Ia is better in turning. A good 109 pilot will always have an edge over a spit if he plays the game using his advantages. Just dont engage in a fight if youre on even or lower energylevel with a spit. You can only win such an encounter if the 109 pilot is dumb and starts tunfighting your spit.

I for my part have big fun paying the game from the BnZers perspective this time. In ROF i was turn and burning on german side for almost 2 years (what else could I do with all allied planes being faster and better climbers). In CloD i am forced to BnZ. And it works.

Winger

Winger

That definately is not true. During the major operations of the BoB, already almost some 190-200 planes were in service, with conversion starting as early as August and Production in June 1940.

Also, the most interesting thing is that the MkIa is still working with the Battle of France 2-Stage prop in-game, that is limiting performance quite a bit. IRL all aircraft from number 175 onwards of the prudction line were fitted with a CSP.

Then again, there should also be less E-3s and once it's out also limited E-4s available, with the E-1 being the main type of the LW in the BoB.

Especially online I find it funny to see tons of over confident 109 pilots flying in a sort of sloppy way, thinking they can get away with almost anything as long as they try to keep their speed up, but that will most likely change once the FMs are brought to their historical specifications and the correct 100 octane fuel introduced. Don't get me wrong, I love flying the 109 as well, but quite a few people will have to rethink their tactics in a bit.

[Grand_Armee]

Originally Posted by 609_Huetz

Then again, there should also be less E-3s and once it's out also limited E-4s available, with the E-1 being the main type of the LW in the BoB.

In all the books I've read, all of the documentaries I've seen, in some 30-odd years of studying WWII, I've seen one picture of an E-1 purportedly flying during BoB. I would love to know where you get this information, please.

[Kurfurst]

Originally Posted by 609_Huetz

Then again, there should also be less E-3s and once it's out also limited E-4s available, with the E-1 being the main type of the LW in the BoB.

All MG E-1s and cannon armed E-3/E-4/E-7 were roughly 50/50, or perhaps 60/40 with more cannon variants around.

Saying that the E-1 being the "main" type is completely misleading. One can pretty much handle the E-3/E-4/E-7 as one type (cannon armed Emil) and the E-1 (MG armed Emil) as another, as a matter of fact the differences were very minor, and even E-1s were converted to E-3 sometime.

[609_Huetz]

I will have to wait until the weekend to give you some numbers Grand Armee, as I can't access my library during the week, since I do not bring it to the city I work in.

Until then: the main problem with the E-1s wasn't the armament, it was discoverd during the late stages of the Battle of France and the early stages of the Battle of Britain that the pilot wasn't sufficiently protected. During the course of the battle, a decent number of E-1s was already converted and fitted cannons and IIRC additional pilot armor of the E-3/4 standard. That's why the definate numbers or pictures can sometimes be misleading.

I do however agree, before the start of the BoB, it's fair enough to treat the E-1s and E3/4 as two different variants, it all gets a bit blury however during the Battle. Until I get home however Kurfurst, can you supply some sources for Grand Armee?

[Grand_Armee]

Not necessary to go to great length. If it's just a question of small upgrades, I don't know that 1C would bother with the trouble of building another 'variant' that was raised to a new standard anyway. Can't see a lot of ppl complainin because of a piece of steel plate, armored windscreen, or alternate cockpit glazing.

[609_Huetz]

Exactly, that's why I can't really understand why they go with the E-4 first instead of the E-1 that would be a decent matchup for the Spitfire Mk.I and would allow us to also create a few nice early(er) war scenarios.

Maybe it's more of an investment in the future and the E-4 definately is representative for the months after the BoB.