Greetings Pat303,
There is a difference between Range and Combat Radius. Summarizing from documents over on World War II Aircraft Performance, Range is the farthest an aircraft can fly in a given configuration. In the footnotes for calculating range it is noted that when calculating range no fuel is used for warm up, taxi, take-off, and climb to altitude. The best range I can find for a Spit Mk XIV is 861 miles. Combat Radius of Action is calculated with factors for warm up, taxi, take-off, climb to altitude, and a factor for combat action (duration at WEP). Since I have the calculations for the P-51H handy, this can be demonstrated with the P-51H range being 2514 miles and combat radius for the same configuration is 1024 miles. If you want to do a simple ratio to get a rough idea of the Spitfire's combat radius we can use 40% based on P-51H numbers. The Combat radius for the Spit XIV calculates as 861 x 40% = 344 miles. My guess is that this number is a little high as the percentage of fuel used for WEP goes up with the shorter the range of the fighter.
Going back to my original post, my question really wasn't about which fighter was better, but was questioning a myth that the Spitfire was always more maneuverable or better. This came from references to the Mustang's best combat performance being at higher speeds and the energy maneuvering chart I had come across that showed the Mustang had an advantage at higher speeds. To illustrate, here is a similar chart comparing the F-18 and F-16.
View attachment 594277
and the chart from my original post with a similar shading showing the envelope where the Spit Mk IX has a definitive advantage and where the Mustang has an advantage.
View attachment 594279
Aircraft behave differently at different speeds and altitudes and while one aircraft might be "better' in one situation another might outperform it in a different situation. To me, the discussion should be a more nuanced comparison. As Rochie has stated, they are both great aircraft and should be appreciated as such.
NevadaK,
Your EM charts are a bit different from what I've looked at before. However, looking at the F18 F16 chart it appears that the Hornet has limit of 9Gs same as the F16. In reality the Hornet is a 7.3G jet. No exceptions that I'm aware of other than the occasional over G. The F16 has a unique chart as well due to its FBW and slats.
Cheers,
Biff