there is no way a buff pilot can make a difference in the game now
That's not true; just this evening I was up from 52 to 44 online at about 13,500' -- just under the wind layer -- with a trio of B-26s, having to shoot an annoying P-38 pilot off my tail before I made my IP turn, then calibrating and making my bomb run; I got my first three pairs of bombs out before the 190 that had come up from 44 to get me shot off my left wing, and I was able to pickle my last pair of eggs before I bailed to the second plane and shot the 190 pilot down.
As I jumped back into the pilot position to turn for egress back to a friendly field, I saw that I'd taken out the fuel tank and ack emplacement I was dropping at and an ammo bunker I wasn't sure I would get... and then my port engine died. I had a Spit and a P-38 chasing me out; I took a couple shots at the P-38 and got hit sprites, then turned a little port to clear a shooting angle as he dropped below me, but saw that he'd fallen back and the Spit had come up. I gave the Spit some rounds from the left-side gun position, then jumped to the tail position as he swung up behind me and went down to my tail guns, but I didn't get him fast enough to avoid losing my other drone and my right engine.
The P-38 had been engaged by a countrymate and had fallen out of con range, so I put my nose down and looked for a field, finally deadsticking into 45, netting 6.41 perk points and three kills for the run. In retrospect, I should have gone higher before the IP turn, maybe to 18,000' or 19,000', but I accomplished what I was after, and for a mid-level buff run against an enemy airfield with eight hostiles up at the field, being able to drop with all three buffs and get a plane home with only a tiny amount of escort assistance is a satisfying accomplishment.