Comparing fighters

I belatedly discovered to my surprise that the Japanese A7M1 (NK9H) fighter appears to be reasonably priced and is as low as BR 3.3 in AB.

This prompted me to compare it to the J2M2 (also BR 3.3, regular research tree), with which I had modest success only (330 : 42 kills on the A2A_only_project account) because of its supreme flammability.

That's a good opportunity to show how I compare planes ("reference" upgrade, no external stores) in test flight mode:

Flying with 100% power at 1000 +/-50 m

top speeds J2M2: 525 kph, A7M1: 488 kph 

Flying with WEP at 1000 +/-50 m, no flaps

360° turn (using keyboard for maximum elevator): J2M2 9 seconds, A7M1 10 seconds

Flying with WEP at 1000 +/-50 m, combat flaps

360° turn (using keyboard for maximum elevator): J2M2 10 seconds, A7M1 11 seconds

Flying with WEP at 1000 +/-50 m

360° roll: J2M2 2 seconds, A7M1 3 seconds

(All figures are a bit inaccurate due to the simple tests; top speed is about +/- 10 kph, turn speeds may be wrong by up to a second and roll rate is rounded).

They're both very fast at low altitude, the roll rates are very good and good, the turn rates qualify for dogfighting against most fighters. The A7M1 is marginally better armed and armoured.

I didn't test the roll rate at high speed (important for "boom and zoom").

The A7M is slightly slower, slightly less agile, slightly better armed, slightly better armoured and a substantially larger target (especially its fuel tanks).

The A7M may still be more robust if minimum (30 min) fuel load keeps some fuel tanks empty and if its fuel tanks are self-sealing (which historically they were).

Overall, it's not good enough for a purchase for my account, but I would fly it if it was a regular plane or a gifted premium plane.