Someone on like page 2 asked why i posted this since I had not been shot down a bunch of times due to IL2's. The reason that I mentioned it is because a squaddie and I were talking about how HiTech and crew had solicited inputs on things that were "gamey" about the game that could be corrected. I guess some of the things they fixed which were long overdue were the launching of a zillion torps from a PT boat and launching a zillion troops from a LVT and the ability to spawn feet dry from an LVT from certain positions. I've certainly abused the hell out of these things... but I'm happy they are gone. In the end they make the game less fun for everyone. The same goes for the Gamey F3 mode for the IL2... same with the A20 for that matter (which I have abused from time to time in mid war). Yes the IL2 is very slow and is otherwise easy target for a disciplined stick... until you add F3. After abusing the hell out of F3 mode in this aircraft, I can tell you that I have made many, many kills with this aircraft.
Take a look at my stats. Like someone said, I was killed once by an IL2 in December while in an Aircraft... because I understand the way this plane is flown, as do many others.
Although I rarely fly the IL2 I got 10 vs plane kills in it in December with only 7 deaths vs planes. 100% of these kills I made were against aircraft with speed and altitude advantages. Check out the names... you might recognize a few decent sticks. F3 mode was responsible for nearly all of these kills. All kills against paying players that should not have been sent back to their base by me, a player who was exploiting this unrealistic function of the game. Like someone said, call it Xbox mode, thats a perfect description. I doubt the adult player base of aces high appreciates this kind of thing.
Bottom line is that this is an advantage when I'm able to fly an IL2 to a better than 1:1 kill to death when taking off from cap'd airfields. If you cant see it, your either not opening your eyes or incredibly naive.
I stand by my original suggestion, simply disable the ability to fire the nose mounted guns in an IL2 (any aircraft actually) from F3 mode. I'm not suggesting eliminating F3 mode, just make it so you cant shoot from it.