Of course it's a disadvantage & I personally wouldn't even entertain the idea. Height equals options, speed in reserve & relative safety so even if you can't see your opponent against the terrain, you still have options.

I have a beef about ppl's attitudes to other players & you're no exception. Calling opponents names (no matter how strong or mild the name is), just because they want to play it that way, is cheap.

I personally regard arcade mode as being a beefed up Blazing Angels or Mario Karts at 5,000 (or 10) ft, both on & off line but I don't regard ppl that play that mode as being fools or anything else.

That's another thing. If a target is in visual range, you should have a target id. It's not like you would forget where it is if you were the pilot.

The main thing that makes people hug the deck is the enemy signature on the "radar" updates in real-time, so you know exactly where they are at all times. The only unknown is what altitude: hence fly low and look up.

It would be far, far better if the radar only updated every 20/30 seconds and crashing was heavily penalised. (This would also deter the kamikazes in CTA)