Advantages? The D-11 will be lighter. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I know the D-5 was about 1100 lbs lighter than the D-25 and the D-11 wasn't too different from the D-5. And the razorback jugs were more stable in turns than the bubbletops (before the dorsal fillet was added).
Drawbacks? *Slightly* less HP and a non-existent 6 o'clock view. Also it had the earlier and less efficient non-paddleblade propeller.
Hopefully this D-11 will have a hot-rodded engine that can pull 72" MP and retrofitted with a paddleblade prop.
One other thing, I don't have my books available right now and I don't remember if the D-11 had underwing pylons for bombs/tanks mounted from the factory. The screenshots shown lack underwing pylons. Anyone?
After we get this plane, I will probably use the D-30 for air-to-ground work and the D-11 for sweeps and escort missions. I might take the D-25 up to add some latin spice every now and then. The 56th FG will be spending a
lot of time in this plane, which wears our historical namesake's markings.

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Sancho
56th Fighter Group "Zemke's Wolfpack"[This message has been edited by Sancho (edited 04-15-2001).]