How planes historically were used and designated sometimes is at odds with how they work in this game. When such events occur, HTC steps in to adjust something. Be it how players use the device, how the device interacts with other elements of the server, or changing the thing in question, there are some precedents in place.
The F4u1C was not used much. In AH it took over. Solution: perk price.
The v-bases were being precision-pinpoint-bombed with lancaster 4k cookies to shut them down in 1 pass. Solution: Split the hangars up, separate them.
Suicide pork-tards took out troops for entire countries preventing them from regaining lost bases. Solution: More barracks per field, spread out.
Deacking was no threat, a single plane could take out all the ack guns on a field with minimal damage. Solution: Upped the number of guns significantly.
Which leads us to:
Il2s being used with arcade F3 mode as heavily armored fighters for base defense rampantly (wide spread) any time a base is under attack. Solution: classify it as a fighter, remove F3.
It makes perfect sense, and falls in line with HTC making tweaks based on how players USE the item, rather than how it was historically intended. Because, as we know, the 2 are not always connected.