Bob..
Good stuff... very impressive...
Add the Yak 9 to the mix and lets see....
I'd start with the US pair and from what I know the Bearcat would be more suited to the interceptor role...merely because it was a more powerful and lighter a/c....It also think it was designed with that in mind....(could have added the P-51H!)
The P-51D gets second bite in the long range escort role....
The I'd put the Spit against the Dora....very tough, I'd suspect that the shear power of the Griffon would provide and overall performance edge, but I'm not certain the handling was as carefree as the Dora....The 190 was a generation ahead aerodynamically....and with its wider track undercarriage it makes living with it a whole bunch easier....no go having the best plane if you guys roll it into a ball coming home.
This might pitch it the Dora's way...I'm afraid...
So we have the Dora and the Bearcat...along with the Yak 9... Having seen it fly at Duxford and hearing Ray Hanna rave about it...from the man who had flown so many of its competitors......it has to be a contender.
Certainly its display performance was as impressive as any I have seen... including Bearcats, Tigercats, Sea Furies, Spits and Seafires....109s, Corsairs, P-38s etc etc....
From those three.....hmmmm.....
Not certain how to go about it...as far as I know no single person flew all three so pilot reports are going to be tough. I'm not sure of how to rationally come to a supportable conclusion...
The Bearcat was designed more as an pure fighter...based on a very powerful evolutionary line of Naval fighters, so the designers knew a thing or two about designing fighters.... but then so did the Kurt Tank and Yakolev....
The Dora is an evolution of an earlier a/c.. a very good one but not necessarily good enough in this company... leaving the Yak 9 as the direct competitor. Again based on very successful series it was nonetheless a new design with a very powerful engine, very well balanced controls and very powerful ones as well...
Would it give the Bear a run for its money? very likely...
From there to declare a winner................
I'd say its impossible as we know too little about the 9 and are too familar with the Bear...... of course the fact its one of my favourites means nothing at all...
