LA-7 love/hate relationship

[ButcherBird]

Originally Posted by Lost Apiarist

To be honest I don't think i am buying the overpowered Russian planes argument. If that was the case then there would be a LOT more people using them. Fact is 8/10 times I won't see any Russian planes in the online realistic matches I have been playing. It is human nature to try and get an edge, go for the advantage....and people simply aren't doing that when it comes to these planes.

This is by no means an argument to make excuses for my piss poor flying skills lol. Just an observation.

no one flies the russian planes because they dont mean much to people in western europe and U.S.

i dont fly the best plane when i play...i fly the planes that interest me. That means i'll fly the butchered P-51 and P-47 as well as the bf109 and FW190's. If i want a plane that can actually dogfight, then i'll play with a hurricane or spit. I'm a really big history buff, but i honestly dont own one book that concentrates on the russian military and if it does mention the russians, its more from the german perspective.

[Soviet Ace]

Originally Posted by ButcherBird

no one flies the russian planes because they dont mean much to people in western europe and U.S.

i dont fly the best plane when i play...i fly the planes that interest me. That means i'll fly the butchered P-51 and P-47 as well as the bf109 and FW190's. If i want a plane that can actually dogfight, then i'll play with a hurricane or spit. I'm a really big history buff, but i honestly dont own one book that concentrates on the russian military and if it does mention the russians, its more from the german perspective.

Ok, first off: Check my sig. That's one of the first you NEED to get. (I love it so much, it's almost like a baby to me. )

Second here's my own personal list.

Check 1
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Check 6
Check 7
Check 8
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Check 10

There's some others too, that I have, but I can't find them on Amazon or anywhere else; but these will do to get you into the know how. (This is for anyone interested, not just ButcherBird.)

[ButcherBird]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

Ok, first off: Check my sig. That's one of the first you NEED to get. (I love it so much, it's almost like a baby to me. )

Second here's my own personal list.

Check 1
Check 2
Check 3
Check 4
Check 5
Check 6
Check 7
Check 8
Check 9
Check 10

There's some others too, that I have, but I can't find them on Amazon or anywhere else; but these will do to get you into the know how. (This is for anyone interested, not just ButcherBird.)

Thanks, i appreciate the advice on good books. I'll definitely start looking to pick some of those up...I seriously consume a good military history book in record time. Really would like to learn more about russian aircraft so that i can develop a historical appreciation for them...

I really wasnt meaning to be a prick by saying that i didnt care about russian planes, but its just because i havent had good books or opportunities to learn about them.

Thanks

[Lost Apiarist]

Ditto on sharing the great list of books. So you would recommend the Osprey series of books over the Red star series?

I have read a lot of Eastern front WW II literature. It is so fascinating to me, the scale of the battles, destruction and loss of life was so massive it doesn't even compare to the battles that the were fought in the west and south. That being said I haven't read a whole lot on the aviation aspect of these titanic struggles, only in context of larger battles. I would definitely recommend "Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945" as a great read and not far behind that Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor. Also A Writer at War: A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army, 1941-1945 By Vasily Grossman is great, he is kind of the Ernie Pyle of the Eastern front.

[Soviet Ace]

Originally Posted by ButcherBird

Thanks, i appreciate the advice on good books. I'll definitely start looking to pick some of those up...I seriously consume a good military history book in record time. Really would like to learn more about russian aircraft so that i can develop a historical appreciation for them...

I really wasnt meaning to be a prick by saying that i didnt care about russian planes, but its just because i havent had good books or opportunities to learn about them.

Thanks

Don't worry, no offense was taken. Just support was all I was giving.

Originally Posted by Lost Apiarist

Ditto on sharing the great list of books. So you would recommend the Osprey series of books over the Red star series?

I have read a lot of Eastern front WW II literature. It is so fascinating to me, the scale of the battles, destruction and loss of life was so massive it doesn't even compare to the battles that the were fought in the west and south. That being said I haven't read a whole lot on the aviation aspect of these titanic struggles, only in context of larger battles. I would definitely recommend "Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945" as a great read and not far behind that Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor. Also A Writer at War: A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army, 1941-1945 By Vasily Grossman is great, he is kind of the Ernie Pyle of the Eastern front.

Yes, Stalingrad is a very interesting book. There are others, but I'm too lazy at the moment to leave my seat and go rummage through them and name off dozens more. lol

But to answer your question. It depends. The Osprey series I gave are good in their own right, as they give you information on particular areas that the Yaks, La's, etc. fought over and give you some information about the pilots and such who flew them. But if you're more interested in understanding the planes, than the Red Star series is really great. It gives you the history, and statistics, etc. needed to understand the planes and see what's what with them all.

[mattmanB182]

I do have a strong believe that the Russian planes are very overpowered in the game...and I think most of the 109's have a very underpowered armament, they should do a bit more damage than what they do. So I fly the K-4.

That being said, I find the Spitfire to be a much more difficult opponent than the La-5 or La-7. I never feel overmatched by the La-5 or 7. The Spitfire is what frustrates me the most though.

[kozzm0]

To master the la7 you need to use all its capabilities. It's not the best turner, but don't stress the turns. In a multiplayer fight, if you can't beat an opponent in 2 or 3 turns, you might get a kill, but someone else is even more likely to kill you. It's usually not a good strategy.

La7 is near the top in turn rate, and it rolls very well and you can barrel and jink it easily to avoid being hit. In free-for-alls, you should do well if you can kill quickly and evade enemy fire. One of my favorite BOP evasions (since the FFA is always near the ground) is do an ascending barrel-roll, checking 6 the whole time, keeping careful watch on the bogey's guns plane and rolling to avoid it. Once you get enough altitude, you can turn and dive, making them overshoot.

And here is where the la7's real greatest power is: it's the fastest non-jet in the game. If you can't make the opponent overshoot, you can throttle up, neutral the stick and continue the dive, if they try to follow just fly past someone else. They won't catch you but whoever you fly past will catch them.

In a 1 on 1 combat vs a spitfire, stay near the edge of blackout level as long as it's a turning fight, you can match a spit's turn rate, while making it keep its own turn radius high. Be wary of its lower radius, if your circles are off center, it may be able to line up a shot, especially if it zooms vertical. What I usually do is some form of rolling scissors, which starts with nose-to-nose turns, and rolling so you're not in front of it at each pass. Then the planes will be competing to see which one can fly slowest at the top of its barrel-roll, and the la7 stands a better chance of winning this, making the spit stall and fall out of the maneuver.

Talking about Sim and realistic here... I don't know if these tactics work in arcade