What comes to IL-2 gunnery, I can't really say anything about that since it's very hard to aim playing it.
The plane feels like you're balancing it on a ball bearing, any small adjustment tips the nose off track.. It only starts flying straight again if there's no control input at all. Only way to get a proper solution there seems to be hands off stick and hope the paths cross somewhere lol.
I don't know if that's realistic - I've heard that the fighter planes flew very steady and did not have the AoA wave all over the horizon after a small stick input.
They changed this in recent 1.04 patch. The 'nose bouncing' problems were caused from incorrect depiction of trim attitudes. Now, all planes in IL-2 are a better and stable gun platforms. At least the nose jerking up down up down difficulties are gone (But it still is hard to aim
)
One funny thing is, though AH claims they don't use a 'hit box', it damn sure feels like there is one. I don't think I've ever seen something like two tracer lines, each passing the starboard and port side of the target plane's fuselage merely inches away. In IL-2, I see these things happening when you shoot at a target too close, but have your guns converged for further off. I see tracer lines passing very close to the aircraft, looking as if they almost grazed the paint job, but still a miss. Those cases which normally in AH I would see hit sprites lighting up, is a definate miss in IL-2.
The IL-2 community has its own batch of 'experienced pilots', too. But these guys, unlike the experienced pilots of AH, no matter how skilled they are, rarely can hit something outside 200 meters if it is moving around. The "more experience in gunnery than real life pilots" argument doesn't seem much valid when this little compariosn kicks into action.
Also, there are range indicators and icons in IL-2, too. Range indicators don't help people shoot at a 400 meter target in IL-2. It certainly doesn't help with me too, since the terrible gunner I am, I prefer to shoot at literally point blank range anyway. (The longest shot I ever confirmed I hit something was about 270 meters. Guns were converged at 150 meters, the target La-5FN was running away straight and level. Took a carfeful aim with maximum zoom on, plane trimmed out perfectly, and let go a 4 second stream with MG131s and saw metal scraps fall off)
Maybe it's the combat trims, or maybe it's the more stablility in the FM.. or maybe it's the difference between modelling trajectories of bullets... or.. maybe it's the damage modelling that makes AH gunnery so different from IL-2. One thing I am certain, IL-2 gunnery makes more sense to me. AH is not bad, but in the aspect of gunnery... simply, IL-2 is better.
