I got IL-2 for Christmas 2009, and I've been playing it non stop pretty much. I've been practicing a lot with Spits vs. Bf-109s (not the server but just with the FMB) and I'm in an allied country so naturally wanted to fight for the allies in Spitfires. But I kept getting outrun and relatively quickly shot down over and over and over. For months I tried to figure it out. So last week I got bored and switched to a Bf-109 and all of a sudden I was taking down Spitfires like fish in a barrel. I though spits were better at maneuvering and could turn better, but in that Bf-109 I was able to get real close to 'em, I was able to turn well without stalling, and the powerful guns made it easier to annihilate the plane once I was almost caught in his rudder.
Aren't spits and Bf-109's equal? It sure doesn't seem like it to me. I guess I'll just start fighting for the Germans now because I can actually hit something with a Bf-109.
And one more of us fall in love with such fine German engineering. Welcome to the club.
In this game, it's not always about the plane, it's about the pilot, it depends on your flying techniques, some people fly the Spitfire better, some people fly the BF-109 better, it's as simple as that.
For what it's worth, I get shot down regularly in almost any aircraft I fly. And often in embarrassing combinations, say in a Hurricane getting shot down by an Avia B534 or an A5M or something totally lesser in performance or armament.
And that's off-line. It must be that pilot skills are far more important.
Remember the late Adolf Galland, who asked Hermann Goering to provide him with Spitfires. Ask the late Robert Stanford Tuck, and the Luftwaffe pilots he shot down!
I really know what you mean, I cant fly spits to save my life, but I love the 109. Not all 109s, namely the F4,G2,G6 series. But I can make due in the rest need be.
It was well known that at the time of the Battle of Britain that the Spitfire just had the edge over the 109 ( again,at that time)..
If a Luftwaffe fighter pilot suddenly found a Spit on his tail he would split S. Due to the carbs on the early Spits or Hurris, they were unable to effectively follow suit..
If the shoe was on the other foot and a Spit found a 109 up his backside it was the turning game, as a Spitfire would always out turn a 109..
Put these evasive manouvres to the test ingame and see how it pans out.. Then see how accurate things get.. By the way, remember if you have your flaps mapped to your joystick in increments for the Spitfire it would be historicaly incorrect to use combat flaps, as the Spit only had two settings, up, or fully down..
As it has been said , it is the pilot not the plane , it depends your tactics and experience , on the paper the Spitfire VIII and IX are a better plane "IF" you use the proper tactics against 109's , which consist of being patient first of all (, the longest the fight last , the worse the 109 situation is because its airframe bleeds energy quicker than the Spit during manoeuvres ) , not slowing down easily during the fight (109 will have problem to keep up with you on the long term and you will end up behind his tail ) , don't use too high angle of attacks during manoeuvres and dont use the vertical plan if he's closing behind you , just keep your speed up whilst manoeuvring gently in a loop turn , never go below 200mph during manoeuvres etc
Remember the 109G2 is overmodelled in the sim as it is lighter than the F4 on take-off , look at Il-2 compare datas , a real G2 should easily be over 3 tons at take off , in game it is 2846kg whereas 109F4 that was in real life much lighter than the Gustav is 2908kg . The 109 G6 is more what a Gustav should be like and have worse performances than Spits in "low-medium speed turning fights on the horizontal and vertical plan at all altitudes " , but let's remember the 109 Gustav were not meant to "dogfight" even though it's possible to do it , they were built for speed , pilots in real life used to dive with their 109 to evade even Spitfires and the most succesful 109 pilots only engaged with superior altitude or speed , if you don't do that with the G6 against Spits , you are a dead man .
As for the other 109G's with MW-50 of 1944 , they are usually better than the 1942-1943 Spits ( although Spitfire are better at high speed manoeuvrability ) cause they have more speed when using MW50 and have a slightly better rollrate , but by that time you can use the Spit XIV that is about equal to late war 109 if you keep the fight fast
