Palate.
It's not a balance... We used to have field auto ack that would rotate instantly, meaning you couldn't use a realistic tactic (which is what the air combat central is made of) to take care of it. One feature in the game that's not realistic but that's a proper balance is the trees and other objects. Trees could easily be rolled over by tanks, but they're a proper balance because a real open field would have had obstacles of some kind, such as holes large enough for the most agile tanks to get stuck in, stuff sticking up to get stuck over with the tracks left hanging in the air, etc.
But what does instantaneous flak simulate? What in all of WWII, or any other time, is simulated by gunfire instantly traveling to target, allowing for no counter by the player? Isn't the point of the game to play your luck and skill at defeating the odds? What's the fun of infinitely bad odds, against AI no less?
At this point it's unlikely HT/Pyro haven't run into these arguments in these flak threads, so either they already have tried this in the past (haven't heard this from anyone, yet) and it wasn't a good solution for some reason, or it's not feasible (would a (d/v)-seconds delay in flak detonations really be unfeasibly complicated and/or costly?), or they just got sick and tired of perceived whining.. Which would be a shame because I really only mean to point out a problem and what seems like a reasonable and adequate solution..
If the flak detonations, even kept in a box seeding area as they are now, were delayed for however long the shells require to travel the distance between guns and target, then we could (IMO) easily have more lethal and/or more flak puffs. Because you could then actualy dodge flak much better (shell flight time is probably something like 3+ seconds at the longest range) if you had the speed/distance/maneuverability, and flying predictably would be rewarded with precise and accurate zeroing down by the flak guns, just as in reality. Which in a sim, is the best design.