It's refreshing to hear that others have as much trouble with the IL2 view system as me. It's not even the lack of a full 6 view (the nod to realism has already been explained. There are many limitations on the virtual pilot that make flying a sim harder than a real plane- a full 6 view is a small compromise for playability). It's the slow pan speed of the snap views. I don't know about you guys, but if I'm looking for a bad guy shooting at me, I can get my head around almost instantaneously.
The most fun I've had with IL2, where it really isn't too bad, is flying medium planes where the views are sorta restricted anyway. I've been enjoying flying the Me110 around for instance. It's a hard plane to see around in to begin with, so the view system is less annoying. Same with some of the other mediums like the Blenheim.
AH2 just does so much right. A logical, flawless view system, a workable autopilot, a nice flight model.
IL2 just fills a niche- opportunity to fly different planes in a historical setting, with some interesting terrains.
I'm really looking forward to Combat Tour in 2 weeks or so.