CloD's AI is not perfect, but at least it's much much better than IL-2's one.
AI isn't as fast as it used to be. At first AI outspaced me as well, but it was my fault (How the hell could a 109 barely reach 350 kph in level flight?). Believe me, once you get the idea of throttle-prop pitch combination, you will fly much faster and can catch AI in no time. Of course, chasing a 110 in Hurricane is pretty much hopeless.
AI is vulnerable. There is so many damage boxes that can be hit, so no way to foretell how many bullets are needed to down a bird. I once killed a Spitfire with just 10 hits from 109's 7,9mm machine guns. On the other hand, a Ju-88 once survived 250 hits from my Hurricane. Very often, it takes about 30 MG hits to down a fighter and double or three times that much to down a bomber.
AI can be surprised. Approaching from lower 6 is the best way IMO. AI only reacts once they see bullet flying by. Sometimes I feel AI is too much passive. They keep flying level and straight as if the encounter 5 seconds ago was just a bad dream. And AI tend to retreat when they lost contacts. I once lost sight of a 110 and gave up searching, expecting AI to sneak behind me. Guess what, I landed in England without a scratch.
AI does have unrealistic roll rate, which makes them like the annoying endless barrel-roll. AI rarely does boom-and-zoom and tends to go into a dogfight, or more than often, retreat.
Overall, AI is much better, though not as challenging as the old IL-2's one. Another drawback is: AI coordination with player and with each other is a big zero. It's pointless having a big dogfight where everyone is for himself. For this reason, I prefer lone-wolf missions.
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