Il2 sturmovik original fight model was different?

[Bolelas]

I was told that the original sturmovik game was much more difficult (regarding the flight model) and that the folowing versions were "softened" to make the game more arcade style in order to atract more begginers. Is it true? The guy that said that to me also said the game had more realistic stalls and spins, trim behavior (reacted more to spedd changes) torque etc. Was it more realistic or just more difficult? If it was more realistic, why dont we get it back again?