Hmmm. Lancs were designed for low angle dive bomb usage. 24's and 17's, I'll agree are tardly.
If people wish to fly directly at a 75mm gun or higher, at low angles of attack.... I don't see the travesty of shooting them. Do you think fighters strafed tanks into the bore of their guns in the war? Seriously? I mean, the Yamato was documented with firing it's 18" main battery at attacking US planes...shooting HE in front of planes has been used before, IRL. It could stand to be reasoned that some grizzled tanker shot a round or two at planes. I mean they came up with cannister shot after the war for exactly that.
And the 163... it is a fighter. Its' range and use in AH is identical to performance in real life. The nozzle issues and volatile fuel is not modeled, but the rest is. Read up on attack profiles they used. They did not fly through under power, in most cases. And yes, they could dogfight.
If they bother you so much, they have about a sector range from a single base on the entire map. Give yourself a cookie and don't fly there, OK? It makes me laugh every time a bunch of clueless folks fly to the 163 base and CAP it. How much stupid can you fit into one area?
I'll guarantee that tank destroying aircraft didnt worry about the main gun of a tank, but rather the AA/pintle gun, or the nearby AA, or enemy fighter. Tankers didnt stop their tank, traverse the turret and wait for the enemy plane to come back, they were focused on ground targets. Canister shot from a tank for AA work??? Please... I'd like to read about that. Source?
I've just double checked w sources and both say (just as my memory served me correctly),that the 163 was designed with intercepting bombers as the purpose. They didnt launch into the air to hunt down fighters, they launched to shoot down bombers. Sure, the Mossi dog-fight was legit, no argument there. I searched and found it on YT, but to have 163's 4 sectors away from their field gaming the game just gets annoying. I usually go elsewhere, I try not to feed the bears.
FWIW, I've not ever CAP'ed a 163 field. I've just taken out fuel tanks to reduce their fuel to %75 max, funny how they stop uppin' for awhile.