IMO, we shouldn't need 'Stand ins' for the second most prolific aircraft in history, beneath the Il-2. Bring on the 1, 7, and 3 right after we get the Ju-52.
Well, at heart, I feel the same way.
But as always, a compromise is required to persuade both the developers and the gamers as to why a particular plane choice should be on the "next" list.
As a matter of fact, the reason the P-39 ranked so high in votes (unlike the B-25 which received a considerable boost in votes from the "Doolitlle raid" squeakers
, or how the Yak-3 received a boost from the "superplane" fan boys
) was the logic that the P-39 was an ideal plane in that;
1) it was a part of a US planeset, unintroduced plane type and not some variant of an already existing plane
2) has a double-role in filling out a very important part of the VVS planeset
3) a mid-war plane with some degree of potential even in the MA
4) very important in all sorts of Eastern front scenarios and events
5) some degree of importance in Pacific theater scenarios and events
6) and also massively produced type, not some very early war or late war, or small batch, obscurely produced type
Like many people I don't think the HTC crew is moving down the vote list. I believe that HTC accepted the above public reasoning for the P-39 - it makes sense.
Therefore, I'm thinking that the Yak-7A or the -7B would also find such compromise acceptable. While the Yak-1 was the very first, really competitive fighter the VVS deployed, its shortage in production numbers gave rise to the Yak-7 series as a real-life "stand in" for the Yak-1s. Not only do they have a very close performance to the Yak-1, it also fills a larger time span from 1941 to mid 1942, before the Yak-1B comes out.
