[{HVY-E}Jinxx]

I think that you almost need to differentiate between real life and the game Il2 when asking this kind of question. The circumstances and goals of air combat during WWII were so different than those in the game.
For example, in Il2 we like to compare planes meeting each other on a one-to-one basis- in real life no fighter pilot in his right mind would willingly get into a "fair fight". He would'nt engage unless he thought he had an advantage, provided the situation was'nt desperate. There was no replay in real life, so there were chances that even the most aggressive pilot would'nt take, but that you often see in Il2.
In Il2 we almost always have enough planes, enough fuel and enough ammo. We are not cold, stressed, exhausted and terrified.
Historically, the various nations involved in the war were'nt there to test who had the best planes, the goal was to win. The best plane is not much use to a pilot who only has a few hours of training and is outnumbered twenty to one. It's also not much good without fuel or replacement parts. For example; The 109 was intended to have it's engine removed and sent back to the factory by rail for servicing, and replaced with a fresh engine. The engine was mounted with just four big bolts to facilitate this. It worked well until the rail system got bombed into non-existence. Then ground crews had to try and figure out how to keep an engine running that was'nt designed to be serviced in the field.
I think the person putting the original question should clarify whether they mean real life or Il2. These are parallel universes.

Well put Murph.

This is what separates the Arm Chair Aces for the 'REAL' Heroes.

S! To all my fellow Vets.