Everyone duck...flying purses!
Brilliant summary of this entire thread
EDIT: and what is all this "honour" BS anyway? This "battlefield honour" you're all harping on about is long dead, and this is a game, so it's a bit irrelevant in this context anyway.
IMO you can only have 'honour' in how you handle yourself. For example, sticking to your promises. I try to, and am usually successful.
However, in deciding to do your best to be 'honourable', you accept the fact that the majority of people probably won't be 'honourable', that they will stab you in the back (in this case HO you), and lie (probably the equivalent of accusing someone of cheating in this game). If you expect anything more out of the average person, my advice would be to stop kidding yourself.
Whilst I'm ranting, I'll move on to this "I've-made-friends-online-even-though-I've-never-met-them-and-probably-never-will-meet-them" attitude. (If you have actually met the people in this game/forum that you think are your friends, please stop reading here - I don't mean this to apply to you.)
For all you know, your "friend" that says he/she is married could actually be a fat unmarried psychopath. You just cannot know. FYI, I'm 16, however for all you know I could be a 40-year old paedophile trying to pose as a teen.
This isn't to say they can't be a friend if you've never met them - my main point is that they can't be a friend in the usual sense of the word.
So, I think this 'honour' BS about the game is rather ridiculous. Personally, in Aces High, if I see a friendly player fighting someone, I may go over to the fight, and stay above it, and ask if the person needs help. I won't join in to that particular fight unless they ask for help, or it becomes clear that the person on my team is losing.
However, aside from that, if you're an enemy, I'll do my best to blow you out of the sky in any way necessary. Since this is a computer game, with very little/no impact on real life, I will assume that all enemies will show me no honour/mercy, and therefore I work from there, with very few exceptions.
*runs to a Spitfire XVI hidden behind a recently constructed brick wall, revs up the engine and takes off to escape barrage of incoming flames*
Yossarian
EDIT #2: I'd like to say that I do respect certain people who consistently make constructive posts, and are usually/always considerate in the game and on the BBS.