OK, I feel we've gotten off topic.
From what little I've seen through film, it seems as though the reduced icon range has sufficiently eased the life of tankers. Even if its still out of their hands, things still aren't too bad.
However Flak runners might be exploiting the reduced icon range. Reducing icon range significantly for everyone will hurt teamwork, which is something nobody wants. Its a big part of what makes the game fun.
We have proposed solutions.
Lets start discussing them.
I'd be fine with:
a modified version of #1, where friendly GV icons are reduced to 2k, and theres a generic 'GV' icon until 1000yds, regardless of if a Storch is present. Friendly aircraft should be more aware of where I'm at than the enemy is, and you shouldn't be able to pick out the high-priority targets at 2k. Its both fair and realistic.
That means that you would have to be in fairly close proximity to a flacker in order to be able to run to it, and that people will have to venture danger-close to unknown vehicles to get an ID on them.
#2 provided ranges are 6000yds and 1500 respectively.
I'm stuck on #2. 6000 yds is probably too great of a distance to let GV's escape from aircraft if there is valid need to do so (not unlikely that, if you anywhere to a fight, theres a GV with 6k of you). 3000yds, on the other hand, will let tanks bail out of a fight at the first near miss.
Also, what about if I get tracked outside of the hanger? Even if I got tracked by someone beyond Karnak's proposed 3k limit, I can no longer tower out, as I've already been hit and it will be registered as a kill. Perhaps we could elminate that particular feature for GV's.
I mean really, just getting out of the danger zone was all of a landing that a GV needed. They could operate from anywhere if they had fuel and ammo, and one patch of forest is as good as the next for camoflauge.