Well, that's not true in my case as 99% of my IL-2 time is offline. This is a bit skewed by certain ISP troubles (that is, i can't fly online as often as i would like to), but even before that i was still a mainly online player.
Forums and such are a great way to collect information, learn things and follow upcoming developments but being a frequent poster in one doesn't make me a frequent online flyer
For me, the main issue with online flying is time constraints and commitment. I dislike having to leave in the middle of a mission or even worse, in the middle of a combat situation. So, if i am to be flying online i need to be absolutely sure that i won't be having any interruptions during my sorties.
I'm no hot-shot but i don't mind losing as long as the match is good, i learn something new or see something impressive, or i plain manage to help my team in accomplishing mission objectives regardless of my K/D ratios and survival rates, i have found servers that suit my difficulty/realism preferences, have nice missions in the rotation and are populated by a nice crowd of flight simmers. It's just that all too often i want to know that i can quit the simulator mid-flight without it reflecting negatively on someone else's gameplay experience, so i mostly stick to offline flying.