Rookie La7 question

[BDBAL]

I use auto take off and flaps are full up...When i get to cruising altitude i adjust flaps to near level. Yet when i dive for positon or attack  (over 200 mph) flaps automatically go full up? Any ideas or is this a normal   feature.
Lastly what is optimum range for La7 cannon, right now I am set at 400.
Thanks,
BDBAL

[Urchin]

Your flaps will automatically retract over about 200 mph or so.  That is normal.  400 yards is probably a little long for convergence in an La7, but if you are comfortable using it there is no problem there.

[Ghosth]

La7 doesn't really need flaps for anything but landing.

As for convergience that partly depends on which cannon set you pick

You have the option of
3 x b20 20mm cannon with 150 rounds per gun

Or

2 X ShVAKs 20mm cannon with 200 rounds per gun.

Personally I much prefer the ShVAKs and ussually set convergience around 250, 350 would be my max.

The closer you are the better they shoot and the better they hit. So get close, then get closer.

[Vermillion]

Interesting Ghosth  

Personally I use the same convergence for either gun set on the La7.

Ballistically (how they shoot), the ShVak 20mm Cannon and the B20 20mm Cannon are identical.  In fact they both use the same ammunition.

The real difference is that physically the B20 is a much lighter gun than the ShVak.

Name  Ammunition  Rate of Fire  Muzzle velocity Weight  
ShVAK  20 x 99R ( 96 g) 800 rpm  860 m/s  42 kg
B-20   20 x 99R ( 96 g) 800 rpm  860 m/s  25 kg

So if you look at the weights of the x2 ShVAK's plus ammunition (400 total rounds), and the weight of the x3 B-20's plus ammunition (450 total rounds), you'll see that the 3 gun aircraft is approximately the same weight (or maybe slightly less depending on mounting hardware) as the 2 gun aircraft. In other words, you won't get a performance decrease to have 33% more firepower.

Therefore, in my opinon, I can't see a reason to fly the 2 gun La7, versus the 3 gun La7, unless your going for historical accuracy or the slightly long firing time, but with 33% less Lethality (firepower).

[Nifty]

I go the two gun option for the slightly longer firing time.  I'll fly with the 3 cannon option for awhile and see if I notice a difference in lethality, accuracy and handling, though.

[Ghosth]

Funny Verm, tried the 3 gun setup, deflection shooting went right out the window. Went back to the 2 x 20mm and shots started hitting again.

All in my noggin???? Perhaps.

Funny I'd of sworn the 2x version turns tighter. Care to share the actual statistics verm?

[Hammerhead]

Aha! So thats why I never get a single kill in the LA7. I have always used the 3 guns and never the 2   .
Is this a bug   .
Hope someone fixes it   .

[aknimitz]

Hmmm...now U guys got me interested.  I never fly the 2-gun version of the La7, always the B20s.  I have found no difference really between my gunnery or flight performance.

On a side note, has anyone noticed that the La5 seems to have taken a turn for the worse?  Its low speed handling really seems to have changed ... its quite nasty slow now.

Nim

[Blue Mako]

I use the 3 gun version of the La7 and have found no difference in shooting method with the 2 gun version.  I get more kills on snapshots with the 3 gun version as it puts 33% more lead in the air...  The difference in firing time I don't see as a problem as I never spray and pray with the Russian birds anyway.  Also I haven't seen any difference in performance (2 - 3 guns) either.

[Wilbus]

Ok, back to old question  

No plane should really use flaps in level flight or while climbing. Use them when 1: Takeing off (specially from carriers, most planes don't need flaps from normal runway).
When you take off, use 1 or 2 nothces of flaps, fully deplayoed won't get ya up much faster, just slow you down.
2: When landing, makes landing distance shorter. Use full flaps on Landing.
3: When you're in a turnfight, the LA7 turns quite well allready so no need for flaps, you can allways outrun or outclimb the enemy if he starts gaining on you.

[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: Wilbus ]

[Nifty]

I seemed to miss a bit more on deflection shooting like ghost with the 3 cannon package.  but wow!  it made a difference when I got on target.  I was cracking planes like eggs with the 3 cannon package.

edit: I didn't notice a difference in flight performance between carrying 3 B-20s vs 2 ShVAKs.

[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: Nifty ]