Wow, your hatred of gv's knows no bounds, good thing you don't Control the game. 
I don't hate GV's. I hate the way most of the players use them. And I hate that their methods have become the prevalent mode of game play.
Personally, I was fine with the icon range changes in AH2. Yes, it made locating vehicles a bit more difficult, but still wasn't crippling, and it gave the Fi 156 purpose.
Today, the Storch is being used much less, because his doubled icon view range doesn't help him any more as icons are now often totally hidden by trees and even building.
It's the combination of new terrain and GV dar that, in my opinion, really messed things up.
Yes, the change was not crippling in AH2, at first. I think the demographic shift that came with the fallout from the 12-hour rule, turned the Storch icon rule change from a minor issue into a proper problem because the bulk of the players who played just to fight left and were replaced with those who played to capture. Once AH3 arrived, That problem became crippling because GV's went from difficult to find to nearly impossible. The GV dar was an attempt to shift the scale back in the air/ground balance but not well enough, in my opinion. I still maintain that reverting the icon rules to the pre-Storch settings will help a great deal.
Giving the Storch a purpose was not the only reason for gv Icon change. learn to find gvs by actually spotting the vehicle instead of it ICON. Gvs under trees are not invisible. You wave to fly low and slow. If that makes you susceptible to ground fire, perfect! why should be able to fly above ground fire range in an A-20, see the icons and just egg them? what do you guess the plane to gv kill ratio was before the rule change? what do think it is now? It much better balance gameplay now.
How is it better balanced now when the dedicated GV killer aircraft are rarely used any more? Where are the IL-2's, Hurri2D's, and Ju 87G's? In the hangar, that's where. When was the last time anyone rolled a 190F-8 to do anything other than rocket down a radar? What are the kill ratios for carpet bombing GV's now vs. then? I bet it's even worse now for GV's because dumping many bombs in the general area of a suspected GV is likely to be much more successful than a targeted strike against a known one.
