If I thought A v A was fun, I'd play Warbirds in the year 2003.
When Warbirds first introduced WBIII in spring 2002 (if memory serves), the Historical Arena had No Icons and a steady population of 70+ folks (which was a large number for Warbirds at the time). That was the peak of online historical matchup type flying in the history of MMOG. For me anyway. There is nothing more intense than no icon fights (yes, I have heard every argument under the sun regarding icons so don't bother). I miss that but I know it will never occur again. The few folks that enjoyed that sort of thing have moved on to other things and I don't think you could get more than five people in the world who would fly no icons on a regular basis.
But it was the heyday. And it only lasted about 6 weeks. Warbirds introduced AI scripts into its Main Arena.The HA emptied within an hour of that and never recovered. It straggled on for a while longer and then was finally scrapped because Warbirds put up the World War II Arena (basically the AvA except it had all planes enabled, just not on the same side). Warbirds never recovered from that mistake. It split an already small player base into even smaller piles and folks left in droves. Most eventually came here. Some stayed with WB way too long, myself included.
The AvA is like the Warbirds Historical Arena with Main Arena style settings. For me, it is better than nothing but far short of the mark for the type of historical re-creation I enjoy. Mainly, the neon icons detract from the immersion of the fight. There is nothing more visually stunning than a no icon fight for several reasons. And the tactical differences make for fights that more closely match historical descriptions (so don't tell i should just turn off my own icons). It is a different experience altogether. Not necessarily more fun. More intense is the best description.
Enough nostalgia for the good ole days. Aces High is a much better game by far but the players have changed and the excitement and enthusiasm for such silliness is gone with them.