I was always under the impression that Med Flight Model was more realistic and that Hard Flight Model was there to keep you interested in the sim when things got too easy. Hard F/M also gives you harder to fly conditions when damaged but seemingly too hard. However, it does seem that using Med F/L with normal guns produces hard to kill AI (we've all been shot down by the dreaded fireball that won't crash) and Player A/C that seem too easy to fly when hit. Thinking that "Normal" gun strength was realistic, it produces a problem between normal to fly and hard to kill. Then, I read a reply to a recent post by Shadow Wolf in which he stated "Hard setting is for "tournament play and additional challenge." Medium f/m is the most realistic (except for 1% planes) and you will have better, more realistic handling". This went along with my previous notion about Med and Hard F/M. I also remembered reading somewhere that when using 1% A/C "strong or strongest" guns were indicated.
Now, leaving 1% A/C out of the equation, I began an experiment using Med F/M and "Strong" guns. All other realism settings were left on or at max producing a 90% realism according to the sim. What I found is that this gives you a realistic handling A/C but it also takes more realistic but not devastating flight control damage when hit. Also, enemy A/C take enough damage to not chase you when they are hit bad or are on fire.
My conclusions are that Med F/M along with Strong guns give us the best realism experience for CFS 2. But I would love to see other opinions on this subject.
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