[ElAurens]

As you can probably tell by my sig pic, I am a huge fan of the Curtiss Hawk series of fighters.

The Hawk 81 through 87 series (P40 to P 40N) were robust aircraft which made them very well suited to the fighter/bomber role that they eventually fell into. The Allison V-1710 12 cylinder engine was probably the toughest inline engine of the war. So much so that even today, the unlimited class air racers that run Merlin engines almost all use the connecting rods from the Allison V-1710 because they are so much stronger than the Rolls-Royce rods are.

Do we see this reflected in the sim?

Hardly.

One rifle caliber hit ahead of the leading edge of the wings and the engine is either stopped instantly, or barely able to make power above idle speed.

And the airframe itself leaves something to be desired. The wings are pretty strong, but fuselage hits always cut multiple control cables (true for many types in game and no doubt reflects the 9 year old+ game engine).

Sorry, I can't stop myself when it comes to my favorite aircraft of all time.