The long wings give it alright lift even at lower airspeeds.
The nose mounted cannons give it a good bite if set correctly.
IMHO the big downfall is the amount of 20mm ammo, the the climb rate.
Keep the nose down, use the machine guns to hone in on your target, then hammer down with the 20mm.
Oh yeah, and try to RTB in a crisscross pattern to avoid someone geting on your low six while you return home.
In that situation you wont see much of anything.

"Ehy, what happend to my wing? thanks for the check six people.."