Re: OT
"Supermarine Spitfire.
The absolute pinnacle of -propeller driven- aeronautical engineering."
Really?
Also from your beloved Wikipedia.
"During the Malaya campaign in defense of Singapore, the Spitfire met its match in the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. "The RAF pilots were trained in methods that were excellent against German and Italian equipment but suicide against the acrobatic Japs." as Lt.Gen. Claire Lee Chennault had to notice.[112] Although not as fast as the Spitfire, the Zero could out-turn the Spitfire with ease, could sustain a climb at a very steep angle, and could stay in the air for three times as long."
Given that the C-V Corsair was more than a match for the Zero, that would suggest that the Corsair at least was quite a bit closer to the pinnacle.
The Tu95 'Bear', which is also propeller driven, is capable of a top speed of 516 mph, slightly faster than the Spitfire's 370 mph - but all is not lost, a Spitfire at maximum speed would be able to eventually catch and overtake an ATR-72 at cruise speed (316mph), provided the ATR didn't have too much of a head start (otherwise the Spitfire is likely to run out of fuel in the process).