I guess I'm puzzled...
I understand why you would want to fly any plane you wanted. But why would you want the freedom to fly against no one?
In AH, you have something no boxed sim can give you -- real people to compete against. Its the difference between playing the AI in a Madden football sim, and playing real football outside.
In pickup football, would you really whine so much if your team had 10 players, and the opponenets had 2? If you were one of the 2, would YOU have fun, or would you even keep playing?
So why would you not want to fly against opponents? Because thats what ENY is about. Its about "teams".
And comparing AH to ww2 is, well, stoooopid. In here there are bases that change hands when you have TEN little unarmed troopers glide into a maproom. Supply lines are essentially irrelevant, and there's no limit on either your available weapons or the NUMBER OF LIVES YOU GET.
Are you seeing a pattern?