Depends on the battle rating.
I think he means in general
I, II/IIb, Vb, LF IX, XIV, XVIII are all reasonably usable
Vc/Vc Trop, XVI, 22, Seafires III and XVII are in open competition to be the most overtiered and the FR 47 is just weird
The 4.3 F IX generally strikes the best balance with decent speed and energy retention for the tier without being relegated to passive gameplay like the OctaneSpit/late Griffons or having your engine explode if you even think of using WEP/anemic armament or cannon ammo count like the early Spitfires. Sucks to face Doras but they and most things 5.0 usually get uptiered to Ju288 jail.
Spitfire LF Mk9.
Available in the British tech tree with the same name. Available as premium for Britain, USSR, and Israel at all times. Though USSR’s is called Spitfire Mk9c.
And Israel’s tech tree as Mk9 CW.
They are all 5.7, excellent climbers with great energy retention.
the FR47 is significantly strengthened so it’s a lot heavier, if you fly it like a BF109 it’ll perform just as well
If you can buy during the battle of Britain event. The Plagis Mk9 is awesome
(Has the best camo if you want to show off in style, personally. The number one reason for picking any vehicle should be looks)
Premium one in Israel TT is no brainer. You just need to climb and get three kills.
from what I remember it doesn’t really have the e-retention, accel or climbrate of the late 109s and has to rely on flaps to get the turnrate, it’s hard to describe, it’s just a really weird plane like a cross between a tempest and a griffon spit but doesn’t get the good qualities of either.
I feel like that’s probably the worst Spitfire 😨
At 5.0 everyone is above you and faster. I had about as much success using it than the boat of a Zero that is the A6M5 Hei.
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I’m pretty sure he’s trolling, but the Seafire III is even worse than the Spitfire Vc at the same BR.
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It really depends on some significant factors. What’s your mec ability? What’s the map temp? What br?
Early spits are some of the most nuanced, complex planes to fly. If you don’t mec you’re not getting the best experience.
Spitfire MK IX LF
Arguably the best spitfire
Spit MK XVI for roll rate and all altitude really.
LF-MK IX for climb rate and high alt.
F-MK IX for everything
MK V are the worst imo due to low engine power at br, but the VC has 4x20mm so thats good.
all Griffons for high alt power.
seafire for low/mid alt power.
If you’re willing to spend a large chunk of money, you could buy the MK-IX-C from the marketplace, all the advantages of a MK-IX but with 4x20mm :)
obviously all agile as hell.
The reason why I brought up mec is because a lot of spifires melt their engines. The only way to properly manage that is with mec.
If you don’t want to use mec then that narrows your selection to a few in particular.
In addition, many spit fires transition away from turn fighters and become more energy fighters/ bnz. The griffons are a notable example of this.
So, while it’s easy to say this spit or that spit, they are the most complex aircraft I tested in the performance guide.
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Read the specific details of each spitfire in the link below, it won’t take long to realize the spitfire tree is complex but easily managed when properly informed:
Laughs in German prop pitch management. :P
BTW any idea what actually affects oil temperature i Dora and Ta-152H the most? Does opening up the radiator help much?
For me, Mk IX and LF Mk IX, althouth both are sometimes annoying to fly because the enemy often reacts to them by running. And Spitfires are often bleeding energy so badly, the enemy has a good headstart, so even if you are faster, it takes ages to catch up.
First question, yes the radiator helps a lot and does cool oil also.
Your problem with spitfire as you describe it is auto radiator slamming the radiator open creating drag on par with an air brake.
Spit fires have a ton of drag from radiator the more it’s open.
I have noticed little difference between 60% and 100% rad when it comes to oil temp. With either engine doesn’t overheat, only oil does and only way to stop it is to lower engine output by a good 5% through prop pitch (depending on alt, at 5000 the performance drop is so hige, you can use 100% without overheating).
LF Mk IX at low alt requires either removing huge part of engine power or 100% radiator. So it’s indeed tricky, you have to constantly adjust either for lower speed acceleration and climb, or for speed. Still easier than german prop pitch adjustment :P
Gaijin is probably not lowering air temp at alt because thay would actually encourage people to fight at higher alt more. And this game is so broken, there’s 0 reason for typical player (a.malicious troll) to come back down.
You can’t go wrong with the mk9c. It carried me through 3 rookie GE wagers… have 200+ with a 90% win rate…
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My personal favourite is the F Mk XIVe. It is the one I have the best k/d for. I prefer the XIV over the LF IX at 5.7 because it’s speed allows you to keep up with p51 H and gives you a better chance of chasing down those annoying Ju 288s.