The cold hard facts about "Realism".

It ain't in the game.
There are 400 different type of arena settings, and there are always pilots who believe that "full realism" is the only setting, the only honest setting, the setting that best represents true dogfighting.
It ain't.
Full realism gives you no icons, engine management and head shake. Lets go over a few of the things that people demand for realsim that really aren't real.
Icons. People say you don't fly with icons in real life, you had to I.D. your enemy. True, you did, but many factors play into IL-2 that DON"T let you do that. If you were an Allied pilot in the ETO, you rigourously trained in identification. Identifying marks, Unit colors, plane silohouttes were drilled into your head, and you still had a tough time telling a P-51B from a 109 or a FW190 form an I.A.R 80. But you had an Idea what you were flying up against, what to look for. You also had better eyesite than a computer monitor, no matter what resolution you fly at. Flat out, you can't I.D. what you are fighting on a monitor as well you can in real life. You need the icon to compinsate for lack of true physical abilities. Members of the Black Sheep have told me that Pappy Boyington could see planes taking off from an airstrip at 20,000ft. Try that in IL-2. You can't. And lets settle this point right now in the only way some refuseniks will except without their egos destroyed. REAL-LIFE(tm) fighter pilots have said this to me personally, that the eye sees better than what a monitor can produce, and that icons are needed in flight sims to make up for this. Let me name drop so that you can understand that I have personally asked this very question to some guys that would know. Robin Olds. James McWhorter. Robert "Punchy" Powell jr., Francis Gabreski. I think we can close this part of the discussion. REAL-LIFE(tm) fighters pilots said so. Who are you to argue?

Catostrophic engine failure. It exists in real life. It ain't in the game. Do you think anyone would fly that N1k2 if they had to put up with the real life engine failures that plane had? Hell, my brother Snitchy flies it like its a dialysis machine. He is ALWAYS in it. Would he fly it if its engine blew on the climb out, or it quit after climbing to 15000ft? HELL NO. Face it, with engine failure realism, you wouldn't fly some of the planes you do, and you might not fly at all.

More on realism later, I gotta go see my girlfriend. Shes hot.