i-185
 

I've been away from the forums for quite a while so I have quite a bit of
whining to catch up on i.e. does the I-185 seem to be a bit too good for its time period which I would label as early war.

In reality it was in fact a very effective fighter, especially in regards of it's speed. Arguably it was the among the best in the world while in development, at least in prototypical form. The only thing delaying from production was unending issues with the engine, and by the time they got that sorted out - years later - the radial-engined Lavochkins had already settled itself into production, and the I-185 had become redundant.

I clearly don't know enough to be sure if the one modeled in the game has exaggerated performance, but by all historical accounts, the I-185 was shaping up to become a world-beater.

Treetop is right. The aircraft was, by all accounts anyways, performing very well but delays and the crashes of two prototypes pretty much ended the types chances of making it into production. That and the La-5 production was already underway with similarly promising performance numbers.

I think its the nature of the aircraft too. Usually the "coach built" prototypes of most Soviet aircraft were very high performing but the transition into serial production usually eliminated a lot of the performance for actual in combat service. To some extent this happened with all nations (the prototypes often didn't have armament, radios, armor plate, all the stuff that weighs you down). So the I-185 is a good example of what a very well built version would probably perform like. If it went to serial production I'm willing to bet it would have lost some of its performance.

No self-respecting server would have the I-185 in it's plane set because it is not a plane that was historically encountered in combat. It is in the same league as the Dornier Arrow, the twin-bf109 and other prototype oddball aircraft.

If you are on a server that has I-185s then it is not a server to take seriously.

Get yourself a good wingman and blow them away. On Grij Dedicado, which was full of UFO type aircraft, the best time I had in recent years was when I got into a Zero and my wingman had a fw190a9. He zoomed and boomed all the UFO Russians and spitfires, and if one got on his tail he would slow down and I would be close by to keep any ridiculously modeled aircraft off his tail. We stacked the UFOs up like cord-wood and the UFO pilots simply quit the server after a little while.

Well, to be frank, I-185 with M-82 engine isn't any better than a La-5F (not the FN even!) performance wise (same engine). Might be a bit more durable due to all-metal construction and 3 cannons (vs 2) located close to centerline.

However, the 2200 HP M-71 engined version is indeed a monster.

But La-5F is seriously overmodeled. More than 30km/h faster than it should be (622 vs 590)
La-5FN is also overmodeled, but not to the same extent (640 vs 625)
(source: NII VVS)

So an I-185 M82 should be in fact far superior to La-5F, and just a little bit inferior to FN.

Maybe so. Still this doesn't make an I-185 (M-82) über in the sim. Competent LW pilots shouldn't have many problems fighting even the overmodelled 5Fs with their contemporary fighters. Only if I-185 had a substantially improved terminal dive speed over the La's (which it afaik doesn't), then it would become a real danger, and even that only at low to medium altitudes.

Take 4 vs 4 (equally skilled pilots) at 5km alt, G2s or God forbid A5s vs La5Fs and it will be cats vs mouses. Doubt it would be any different vs I-185s (M-82).

I-185 actually saw combat in limited numbers at 728.IAP.