Engines are too strong and reliable.

[Derda508]

And I remember the whining that started when 4.11 came out with the new engine overheating feature...
You get used to it with practise and certainly it would be possible to get used to an even more difficult level. But is that neccessary? Luckily there is always the option to change settings.
As I stated it before: This is a game. And there is no way to play it "right". As long as you enjoy it it is just the way it´s meant to be
About AI I don´t think they have other FMs, its just doing everything in a perfect way, its doing everything at the same time and instantly when its needed. A human player can´t do that. He can look at just one gauge at a time, then he needs more time to think how to react and even more to adjust the controls. Maybe he is adjusting too much or too little, he has to check and re-adjust. While doing this, he cannot watch the surrondings etc. AI is doing instantly everything right and at the same time are always perfectly aware about all planes, friend or foe, in their field of view and know exactly about their speed and distance. That´s why booming and zooming can be pretty frustrating against AI.
I play Il-2 ´46 exclusively offline (full real, except for Icons because my eyes are not what they used to be) and AI is a challenge for me. CloD (with more challenging engine management) I play exclusively online (full real), the AI is not very interesting, but human players sometimes give me a chance by making more mistakes than I do.