It's hard to say exactly but relatively speaking, and given the age of the simulators damage model (some aspects of the aircraft are not part of the DM), I think the damage done is fairly accurate.

I really don't think the Berezin needs to be any more powerful than it is. It's already just a hair off of some 20mm cannons. One second worth of shooting and you can de-tail some earlier Bf109 versions and de-wing just about anything smaller than a bomber and that's with one nose mounted gun. IMHO it's probably better than the MG151/15 in my experience.

The ShVAK 20mm is probably a distant third with a toss up between Hispano 20mm and MG151/20 so that really doesn't need much adjusting either. Back in the day the MG151/20 was probably third place but that was until it was belted with the Mine rounds and after that it easily is the most destructive. Especially from an explosive standpoint. The Hispano hits harder from a kinetic point of view which makes sense given it's higher muzzle velocity and larger shell.

I still think its odd that with a German 30mm cannon I can destroy a bomber in 1-2 shots. But a Yak-9U took 2 30mm shots directly in the tail from a distance of .38-.45km and kept flying.

Or it explodes in one shot... lots of outliers...

True. I was just mad that a Yak-9U could hang with me at 8k meters. lol

This was the only soviet plane that was clearly superior to any german fighter.
http://www.gqth.info/01.jpghttp://www.gqth.info/7.jpghttp://www.gqth.info/8.jpghttp://www.gqth.info/9.jpghttp://www.gqth.info/0.jpg

I dont know if the DM of the 109 is right or not, but I did it many times with just a pair of ShKAS. But the ShKAS isnt more powerful than other similar machineguns, like the MG17. Maybe if it would consume ammunition quicker...

sorry for self quoting, interesting info about discipline, etc -

Well it is nice that so much fun has been had with this thread, but it was BS from the start. The Soviet planes in this sim have no huge speed advantages over their axis contemporaries if any at all, and very often while they may be a close match in speed at one altitude to axis fighters, they lose out at another badly.

The thread starter is obviously some sort of neophyte who made his own little IL2 world somewhere and got bored with it, and sucked you all in to his problems.

Every patch or two I test a large number of the aircraft in this sim at sea-level and at 5000 meters altitude with power and radiator settings as close as I can make them.
If you are not on some sort of children's server that throws all the years of WWII together at once, then there is no aircraft that is going to give you an advantage that will guarantee success.

The best advantage you can have is education and intelligence, and those who blame their problems in virtual aerial combat on their aircraft or the current patch of IL2 sure don't have those two attributes.

The really good and mature IL2 pilots over the past decade have prevailed through all the patches, flying all the aircraft both red and blue, and have been able to do it without bending the sim to suit their wet-dreams by modding it. Those are the guys I call aces.....

Well said.

And I think what you write is the BS. This thread isnt about how to fight soviet planes, or how to fight german planes. This isnt about tactics, teamwork, etc. Its about REALISM. I think IL-2 is a simulator, so it should be realistic. If you prefer prototype soviet planes, thats your problem. Well, OK, dont change the FM. But then at least some of them (La-5/F/FN/7) should get a 'prototype' suffix after the designation.

Really? Try an 1v1 fight against a La-7. There is NOTHING you can do against it. Cant turn, cant climb and cant run. At any altitude. If you think this is realistic... Your problem. I usually fly soviet planes. And in a La-7, I dont remember to use "Forsazh" more than a few seconds to shoot down german planes. Not much more difficult than a C-47. You think its realistic? Again, your problem.