I remember a kill I had when we still had the BETA terrain. I was around F16, just putting around in a cloud having some fun. I spotted a guy flying in below me, with 5 other guys swarming in trying to get him. I forgot which key killed the icons, so I couldn't get them back on!! We were both in a 109-G10, and both in a shallow dive. I came in behind him, without him knowing, at 350+mph. I found the icon key about .0003 seconds before both my fingers clamped down and fired my guns. I blew his engine, elevator, flaps, fuel, oil, and left aileron with that blast. I wasn't any farther than 150 yards too. WHAT A THRILL!!!!!!!!!!
All the time in that dive I was wondering "Am I close enough to shoot yet???!?!". Sure enough, just before I hit the icons back on I fired and nearly killed him. He ended up hitting the ground; he never bailed. I turned around to get a bead in a N1K when I spotted, in white text, "WTG delta6!! I never even knew you were there!!". I was so distracted I flew right past the N1K without firing a shot.
I can tell you that it's easy to spot enemy planes from at least D5. All we need are dedicated countries so we don't kill friendlies. By the time I was around D4 I knew he was a 109-G10. One thing I agree on is friendly icons, you need them! I'd say around D7 distance they show up. This is close enough to give you a bit of a scare, but far enough that snipers won't have much chance of killing your wingman.
Flakbait
A man standing in the shadows of giants