@ ROC and @ Naughty: As you know there's as many ways to play this game as there is players. If you fly to the enemy field someone might up for defence. Or then not. Sometimes I've circled over three or four enemy airfields during one single sortie until I've had to RTB without seeing a single enemy, apparently not even in the field gun. And if I up near a fight, there will soon be a rant on 200 about disturbing a 1 vs 1 or about a multitude vs 1. I've even been PM'd for interfering a 2 vs 1 practice event near our base on the centre island - needless to say that they all were enemies to me! If there's on average more than one field for every player online, sometimes it looks like people really were sitting each one in their own tower, not to mention if there were three or four. Or all of the fighting is done between the two other countries in a place you'd have to fly all across one of them. Since this game is a social event for me, having the ability to talk with my friends from several squads is quite important. That's the reason I wouldn't like to switch sides, there'd be no way to tell someone looking for company on our channel that I could be find on the other side. Not to mention that switching back if the situation changed has the 12 hours rule.
On a small map there'd be more chances to meet an enemy by accident.
[Edit]Lusche, you beat me again in typing speed. +1 for what you said.