Rude, no it is not.
BUT, Coop missions at hyperlobby often launch with 14 players and, depending on the mission, you may run into any number of very good to poor AI pilots.
Think about the mission planner in AH and you have an IL2 coop mission.
The main difference is that any enemy planes you meet will indeed be enemy, not some guy flying the same type of plane you are.
Another difference is detail and if your machine is low end forget it.
56K people have trouble hosting over 4-6 but they can join a full coop and it runs well for them.
Way long answer, I got carried away, sorry.
BTW, check out the NEW Forgotten Battles video at the main IL2 site, about 7MB download and a treat in it for P47 and P40 jocks.