'Free' view

[Redroach]

I'm having issues with my external views. I know you can switch to external view, but, contrary to how it was in Il-2, you cannot really 'zoom', or better pan, out to get the bigger picture of things.
In Il-2, you could switch to external view and basically pan around to a quite large field of view, but in CoD, if I switch to external (F2), all I seem to be able to do is 'zoom' out, and by that, I mean a camera-optics-like zoom-out where you get a fisheye perspective quite early on. And now, if I am on an unknown airfield, I would like to do exactly the Il-2 thing, basically to view the airfield from a height of 100m or so, to properly locate the runway, buildings etc. in order to know where I have to taxi to.
I've seen videos where people seem to be able to zoom out without getting the fisheye perspective, so I am confident you can do it the Il-2 way. Could anyone provide me with some hints here? It'd be appreciated.