Flying the Spitfire in War Thunder is a matter of perspective. Where the BF 109 is always a great energy fighter and the Zero is always a great turn fighter, the Spitfire, in almost all of its iterations, is a great everything in the right contexts. Yes, it really is that good.
Once you understand the basics of Air RB, there is an easy branch of logic to follow when flying the Spitfires, and although how often you employ these tactics will vary depending on the performance of the model you fly and, more importantly, the enemies it faces at its BR (battle rating), this logic chain will serve you well enough to follow 99% of the time and come out ahead. Keep in mind that this guide concerns itself with Air Realistic Battles and not Air Arcade, where the rules of physics are often discarded in the first place.
1) Climb
Easy enough. If you’ve ever asked fellow teammates (or enemies) for advice on flying the Spitfires, they will always tell you to climb.
The Spitfire has one of the best climb rates in the game at its various BRs and, in certain instances, such as with the Griffon Spits, outclasses everything it will face in terms of climb rate. Naturally, the hardest part of climbing isn’t tilting your plane up until you’re above your opponents, the hardest part is knowing why you’re climbing and what to do once you’re in that position.
2) Assess the situation
Once at altitude, there will be a stage of the battle when all of your enemies meet your allies head-on. At this point in the battle, there are a number of things the Spitfire should be wary of. First, understand that the Spitfire faces BF 109s, Zeros, Yaks, and FW190s often. These teams, usually built off of Axis planes, have a wide variety of strengths and, at lower BRs, will also be facing off against allied teams who tend to have poor climb rates and a ton of ground pounders who don’t care to climb at all, courtesy of the very fun American tree.
Given all of that information, four things will generally be true of a low BR Air RB match: 109’s can match your climb rate and are faster than you at higher altitudes, Zeros can outturn you, and FW 190’s are faster than you at medium to low altitudes and Yaks are generally just better than you at low altitudes unless you can make good usage of the Spitfires limited Flaps.
Given these weaknesses against Axis teams, assessing the situation is mighty important. You can outturn a 109, but not if it has a nearby Zero protecting it. You can outmaneuver a 190, but not if it chooses to run away and play the speed game. You can beat a Yak at low altitudes if you have good flap usage, but the Yak will always be a better energy fighter in the verticle, so your window for victory is limited.
And, of course, none of this really matters if you’re in the sky alone by the time you begin merging with the enemy, which is likely to happen. So before you decide who to fight (and how), you need to figure out how you’re going to position yourself. In the Spitfire, you have three options:
First: You can continue your climb and force everyone else down. Just because the Spitfire isn’t the greatest performing machine at high altitudes doesn’t mean it can’t climb better than its foes. If you happen to find yourself above everyone, stay above them and threaten your foes with Boom n’ Zoom tactics until they are forced down into the meat grinder.
Second: You can take foes head-on. If you find yourself at an even altitude against your opponents, which may happen often depending on how many 109s are on the enemy team, you can choose to fight into your opponents. Against one or two opponents, taking long-range head-ons before maneuvering out of the way and into a merge with your opponents, who will likely not be turning into you if they know what’s good for them, is ideal for starting early dogfights.
Just remember to dodge early in the head-on, as the Spitfire will not win against 109s, who have nose-mounted weaponry ideal for long-range engagements while the Spitfire does not. Also remember that if the opponents number in three or more, this strategy will get you killed. Instead, opt for strategy #3.
Third: Retreat or Reposition. If you’re outnumbered three to one at altitude upon meeting the enemy, you cannot dogfight your foes unless they are really bad. Instead, pre-emptively pull away in a steady climb to see if you can isolate one or two foes into following you. If you can’t do that, turn your Spitfire 40 to 180 degrees (depending on the severity of the situation) and fly downwards.
Retreating down has a number of benefits. First, it builds up energy, while you’ll need to engage with foes who follow you. Second, the Yaks who can beat you at low altitudes can’t often climb with you very well, and will likely be below you and with less energy, meaning a retreat to lower altitudes opens up the possibility to snag a kill or two in Boom n’ Zoom fashion. Lastly, the Spitfire thrives in lower altitudes where 109s and 190s lose much of their advantage as fast, medium to high-altitude machines.
Once you’ve chosen one of these three tactics, the rest comes down to aerial combat knowledge.
3) Pick the Fighting Style for the Situation
If you find yourself above your opponents, employ boom n’ zoom tactics by flying down onto them, taking shots on target, and flying up and away using your superior energy state. Don’t take head-ons, don’t shrug off energy for no reason, and soon your opponents will be low and slow while trying to evade you, making them easy targets.
If you’re in the mix of things and have the time to employ turn-fighting, use the Spitfire for its greatest strength and turn that sucker in the horizontal. 190s will be your easiest targets, while 109s might take a while longer to get guns on target, while Yaks will be a tad bit scary if you don’t employ your flaps at the right time to decrease turn times. Avoid turning into the verticle if you can help it. Spitfires make poor energy fighters and bleed speed going upwards.
If you’re against a dedicated turn fighter, like the Zero, and have a strong understanding of their energy state and your energy state, feel free to play the Spitfire like an energy fighter. Despite its weaknesses in the verticle, it still outclimbs planes like the Zero, and a conservative climb with a tailing Zero can be quietly turned into an aggressive upward spiral, which will cause the Zero to lose all of its speed while the Spitfire will continue chugging along given the correct angles. Once the Zero stalls or levels out, a good Spitfire pilot will make use of flaps to flip the plane over and get guns on target before using superior speed to fly out of the Zero’s view.
4) Caveats
The Spitfire benefits heavily from the use of MEC., or Manual Engine Control. MEC allows pilots to dictate the prop pitch, radiator drag, and mixture percentage of their plane. With the Spitfire, this means you can have full control of your climb to overheat rate, which the auto-engine control has a poor time balancing. If you’re not using MEC, you’re losing out.
Additionally, there are some Spitfires that should not be flown using the advice above. For example, the clipped F MK. XVI Spitfire has clipped wings that give it better energy retention, roll rate, and acceleration at the cost of its turn speed and, generally speaking, turns the Spitfire into something more akin to a jack of all trades FW-190 with decent everything, including defensive flying capabilities. This version of the Spitfire will not outrun the competition, and will outturn less of its foes than a normal winged Spitfire.
Not counting these caveats, the advice above will serve any Spitfire pilot well in War Thunder and turn those losses against the Axis into wins.
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