I think the main reason for increasing power and moving closer to the hinge is because the tip of the flipper arm ends up moving faster. The extra power is needed because the ratio change makes it harder to lift a weight at the tip of the arm. The side effect of moving closer to the hinge is that you'll need a shorter stroke for the same amount of lift at the front.

The result is an equal amount of lift power but a faster firing flip, so the enemy will get more air.

You could have a very weak ram and put it as far away from the hinge as possible and still be able to lift another robot, but they won't fly, because the weapon doesn't move quickly. Your goal is the opposite of this: move it close to the hinge and the tip of the flipper moves quickly but your max lift will be hurt, hence why you need a more powerful ram to make up for the ratio loss.

I think I just repeated myself, but oh well. I don't know anything about pneumatics anyway, don't know why I'm here!