Shane, the la7 for you is a crutch.
I'm not going to tell people how to fly. But I will say this. If you land kills in any spitfire, la7, niki or hurri, and still think you are some "great pilot" at this game, then you have problems.
Go ahead, get kills in those plane, do whatever you need to to compete with other pilots at different skill levels, just don't think for a second that you are a great pilot in AH.