Yes you do.

Now that is a good point. Servers with padlock + externals combined (I think it's that particular combination that sucks), or enemy views, full icons, open cockpit etc allowed, are toy servers. I cannot understand why people pay for a simulator to play it as an arcade game. Then again, maybe they didn't pay.
And if some server truly allows I-185 with no limitations, then it's not worth playing on.

Your friend needs to take off his foil hat.

From personal experience with the Il-2 Demo and Il-2 FB, the old FM systems are pretty lack-luster in comparison to the current one. Everything flies on rails, and I don't think the spin and torque behavior was great either. Still, it was the best at the time (Microsoft CFS:1 FM's are joke, and everything looks like the 1/2x slow-motion guncam footage you see everywhere).

The introduction of Pacific Fighters brought a new FM system which improved the feeling of flight. There will always be issues with individual aircraft performance, and some aspects of the flight envelope are simplified to run on PC's at decent FPS, but overall, it's quite good, and only superseded by the latest flight sim systems like CloD and DCS.

So, although the FM isn't perfect, it's satisfactory to me, and I do have real-world flight experience, though not in WWII aircraft.

Well, that was an entertaining read. I have to ask though, why are you still here?

Don't want to start a fight, but this is not your territory either. Stop being sounding like a host. Actually I was here 4 years before you came. Just sit and watch, mate.

The flight models never were more realistic than they are now. In Il-2 early days, AI occasionally swapped the plane around and continued chasing you tail first. Quite a sight. Unfortunately I can't find a youtube video. :)

You mean, like, flying backwards? Whoa man, I'm trippin' out. :o

That alone couldn't be further away from the truth.

Yes, exactly. It was a rare thing to happen, but happened.

Generally it was easier flying backwards, pulling up vertical and then start a tailslide. I managed to go under a bridge, turn the plane around and continue flying that way, as well as several backwards landings.

Good old days, was a lot of fun. But certainly not realistic.

There used to be a vid showing an i16 flying under a bridge, pulling up vertical until it stalled without any wingdip and then flying backwards under the bridge and -300kph.

Anyone who thinks that the fms have been dumbed down and are less realistic now, is on the crack pipe.

Ahh but that's the beauty of it. Not everyone has to play the same way. Some want the full authentic experience... some want a lighter experience. Both are enthusiasts of WWII air combat but their wants and desires are quite different. I don't think it's too hard to understand why people might want one, the other, or both.

The tracks won't work any more, but attached two screenshots of v1.2. :)