Not every airplane glides on the same slope. Every airplane has a particular speed at which it glides the furthest. We don't have the original pilot manuals for the Russian aircraft you have singled out, so you will have to test them further.
A particular airplane will always have to glide at a faster speed, in order to cover the same distance, as wing loading increases (in heavier states). Likewise, as an aircraft decreases in weight, it also must glide at a slower rate, in order to cover the same distance. What you are actually doing is adjusting the aircrafts lift component in order to maintain a given L/D ratio.
Example:Your La7 weighs (say) 7300 lbs. If it's ideal L/D ratio is 10:1 (I don't know the optimum L/D), then you have to adjust the angle-of-attack until the drag component equals 730 lbs., in order to attain that 10:1 ratio (you're lifting 7300 lbs.). Since we don't have drag meters, we adjust airspeed.
You can also adjust for a particular rate of descent. You do that by adjusting the VSI and setting auto-angle (shift-x I think is the default). Bear in mind that the VSI is not as accurate as the ASI. Auto-angle seems to trim more quickly then auto-speed, though.