plan_D said:
I was saying you should have included the Soviet planes in your 'in from the start list'. The Spitfire XIV was the best dogfighter, and it beat the P-51D Mustang on everything except range...American and British pilots that had flown the Mustang and the Spitfire perfered the Spitfire.
The Spitfire could handle itself against anything in a dogfight, and that was all the way through the war. So from your list it's the best. Since the title is Best Fighter not Best Fighter in 1941, the thread holds more discussion.
Once again, I agree with Plan_D.
I have a book in wich a pilot compare the Spitfire Mk. IX (came out in 1942) to the P-51B (came out in 1944). I translated it from French, so I apologize for any mistake. It's says:
"The comparison of those two plane is weird, because they had the same engine. [...]
The Mustang had a greater range than the Spitfire. Their fuel consumption were the same, but the P-51 was 32 km/h faster. With their engine "pushed at the limit", their speed was the same between 10,000 and 15,000 feet, and between 25,000 and 32,000 feet.
However, the Spitfire had a better climb rate, even against the P-51B at full trottle. But the Mustang needed less power to climb after diving.
In diving, the Mustang could desengage very quickly. With the same engine adjustments, the Spitfire needed more power to stay in formation. An other advantage of the Spitfire was that it was easy to handle in the curves. It was always turning faster than the P-51B, even when using the flaps. The Mustang couldn't spin as fast as the Spitfire Mk. IX at normal speed. But the spin performances were identical at 350 km/h. Finaly, the Mustang's four Browning machine guns were greatly inferior to the Spitfire Mk. IX's two 20 mm cannons and four Browning 303."
It was the P-51B compared to the Spitfire Mk. IX. So we can see that those two craft were almost equivalent and that the preference of one rather to the other was a question of personnal taste. But think about the Mk. XIV. With all the improvements, the Mk. XIV was better than the Mustang, no matter if it was a P-51B or a P-51D.
But once again, I must say that I like the Mk. IX. 8)