Winkle Brown was asked - or chose in the case of the Me163 - to do a lot of daft things, a true research pilot.
He's very against VSTOL / STOVL aircraft though, which surprised me; ' stop then land ' always appealed to me, ( not a pilot, just a test team type ) as well as the Harrier's load carrying abilities - you can stick virtually anything on the pylons, and it will still go on its' fuel guzzling way.
I also asked Winkle why the hell didn't the WW11 Navy use the Hurricane more ? He answered that he wanted something copable to deal with the 190.
My Father was a leading engine mechanic on Seafires at Salerno, with no Wind Over Deck; after 2 days there were 6 aircraft left out of 36 on Unicorn, with no enemy involvment - with it's feeble narrow track gear,
the Spitfire seems a poor choice for use on small carriers.
I'd have thought having a possibly cannon armed & very manourable fighter ( Hurricane ) available to fly, rather than a mangled heap on the foredeck would be an advantage, even against FW 190's...
The last I heard recently on the CVF is we'll be lucky to get one.