I once read from a pilot who flew all of them that carrier-based fighters - even flawed ones like the Corsair which was mainly operated by the Marine Corps Aviation Units from Pacific island landing strips (and did of course great from there) - were by necessity creatures of compromise and not thoroughbred interceptors. He further wrote that in typical dogfight scenarios, Zeros, Hellcats and Corsairs (great planes they all were for their given purpose) would have been hopelessly outclassed by strictly land-based fighters such as Bf 109, FW 190, Spitfire, Thunderbolt and Mustang. In the Pacific, nearly all fighter-to-fighter combat took place between aircraft designed for carrier duty, they were all one "class" so to say. (And once US interceptor ingenuity in the form of the Mustang saw more deployment as the US closed in on Nippon, the Japanese were at a loss what to do, especially at high altitudes never deemed relevant for naval air combat. Hell, even the Lightning did well in the Pacific - mind you, against carrier-based Japanese fighters! -, put up against Bf 109s or FW 190ies in European skies, however, it left the Luftwaffe unimpressed.)
The argument seemed to make sense to me. It works both ways: Attempts to (re)design the Bf 109 for service from the Reich's planned (and eventually scuppered) Graf Zeppelin carrier project created barely flyable monstrosities. It was part of the reason why the whole project failed, not just the fact that the rough North Atlantic (plus the generally bad weather prevailing there) is not an ideal carrier environment like the Pacific.
Observation: That sleek Rolls Royce Merlin engine sure is a determining design feature - looking at the snout of that '44 Spitfire you'd be forgiven to think you have a Mustang snout before you. I'm not the greatest Spitfire look (it's a very pure design, I'm happy to admit that) fan on earth (more the Hawker Tempest/Typhoon guy), but David Lowy's '44 specimen is probably the most beautiful Spit I've yet seen. I don't really like the look of a Bf 109 either, my heart is with Focke Wulf 190 A or D types, just as I prefer a Thunderbolt visually over a Mustang (another pure and sleek design, no doubt). I guess I'm a radial engine guy.
