[Griffon]

hello!

i do play this sim for ages now and i can tell you, the discussions about certain fm defects fill quite a few pages on the net;
that said, the game in its current state is the basic IL-2 engine from over 10 years ago, burdened by the addition of a high altitude part for USAAF ops, shipborne ops for the PTO and several other thingies, all creating a compromise sim that is far away from being a study sim where all values are correct and reflect real life;
the mentioned high altitude FM is flawed from the beginning, as the original game was and is a IL-2 sim, optimized for low level fighting!

personally, I have experienced quite a few Spit V vs 190A duels recently, and I can tell you that this set up is pretty well matched up;
if you try to outfight a Spit in a turning contest, your tactics are plainly wrong;
if you get the Spit in your sights though for a second or a little longer, its armament will shred each and every Spit to pieces!
the key is to adhere to the original slash and run tactics;
in a Spit, keep turning and try to outfly the 190 in the horizontal;
given two pilots of equal ability, the one who sees his opponent first will win;
if they engage each other from a neutral position, a draw should be the normal outcome....

but never ever think about IL-2 as a close to reality sim!
its fun, its great its addictive, but its not 100% historically correct!!!