I sure agree with the sentiment of this thread. On a good note, this happened last night. It was just one simple mission, but it reminded me of the old days. I put up a pony run with 100 lb bombs and rockets. Oh, got about 5 or 6 guys. We headed towards the bad guy base into which we had a nice spawn. Their vh was up as was their town. I got questioned by the pilots in the mission what's with the 100 lb bombs. I told them we're out for the field ack, then cap, and have some fun. There was a little kerfuffling about the load out, but not much.
Suffice it to say, we deacked the field. Yes, it was a small airfield, so I'm not holding this little mission up as some great feat. We had a nice cap. The enemy did their best, but the gv guys got the town down and someone drove in an M3. We took it with FH's and BH's up, and with no horde. Was just nice.
Since talking, cajoling, and begging doesn't seem to work, I think I'll up more of these ack missions. And you don't need a horde to pull it off. Because what does seem to work is when our guys see that they can fly over a base without getting pecked at by field ack. It'll be fun doing it at a medium and large airfield. The key is that 1st pass, salvo 1, with the 100 lbers. And it's fun ignoring red guys while we go about our business, then see the enemy get the picture of what is happening.