A lot of the online wars and campaigns are fought with some of the best hardware set to the lowest settings to gain increased range on "dots" and lowered game settings removes buildings exposing only ground objects to be destroyed in online competitions.
Test it your self
640x480
Set all graphics to lowest settings in IL2 1946 main gui
Perfect mode & 1680x1050
Lowest settings & 640x480
Flying around looking for ground targets on these settings makes them easier to spot and kill, the same goes for aircraft they are like huge bricks rather than tiny dots.
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