When did MiG surpass Supermarine? And what it takes to regain the lead?

[Admiral Beez]

MiG-1 vs. Spitfire Mk.II
MiG-3 vs. Spitfire Mk.V
MiG I-221 vs. Spitfire Mk XII
MiG-9 vs. Attacker
MiG-15 vs. Swift
MiG-17 vs. Scimitar

The Attacker (first flight 1946) should be able to compete with the MiG-9 (also first flown 1946), but I'd argue the MiG-15 smokes everything from Supermarine. I wonder if Mitchell could have made a better Scimitar. As is, perhaps Mitchell's successor Joseph Smith's 545 would have matched the MiG-19.

 

[cherry blossom]

The designers of the Spitfire, the Bf 109, the P-40 and the A6M all had a full time job making small changes to their airframe throughout WW2. Are we surprised that only Messerschmidt managed to produce a second winner?

 

[tomo pauk]

Designer of Spitfire was, unfortunately, dead before ww2; granted, it was not only Mitchell that single-handedly designed the Spitfire. Designer of the P-40 left the company before 1942.

MTT have had several design teams on the payrole, so the success is not a surprise. They were coming out with designs ranging from trainers to 4-engined stuff. Granted, MTT managed to produce several flops, too. Supermarine was a small company, part of Vickers.