Dig this. I've been a WW2 aircraft buff since I was a kid. I have an entire bookshelf on these planes dating back to the sixties. Yeah, I'm a little up there in age. Going to an excellent airshow this weekend. I have a book called Aircraft of WW2. It is full of specs, production data, models, armament, performance data, dash numbers. Everything. Copyright 1973. Author Bill Gunston. 47 aircraft listed. I will quote it reguarding the LA7:

In late 1941 Lavochkins team fitted a LAGG-3 of the latest type with a powewrful radial engine. The result was a great success, performance being transformed and especially at high altitudes. The aircraft went into production as the LA-5. By late 1942 the LA-5 was being called the wooden savior of Stalingrad. Lavachkin was given a Stalin prize and his bureau was moved into the gigantic Aircraft Factory no. 21. By 1943 a more powerful FN series engine, with direct fuel injection, was being fitted. An intense effort was mounted to reduce weight, and light alloy (aluminum) Was substituted for the wooden wing spar, though the extra space was not used for fuel. By the end of 1943 production switched to the outstanding LA7, with a supercharger and oil cooler fed by ram inlets in the wing roots and under the rear fuselage. Weight saving resulted in reduced fuel capacity and armament.
BY LATE 1943 THE LA7 WAS PROBABLY THE BEST DOGFIGHTER IN THE WORLD, AND IT WAS SELECTED BY ALMOST ALL THE SOVIET ACES.

Ha!! More later. I'm goin to bed. Maybe the devs got it right!