Hi again Kendras, nice idea
reducing GWX's B-17 model to little more than a silhouette shouldn't pose many problems. The same for tweaking its texture
I have some doubts about your idea of merging an entire squadron into a single air unit though, as this may lead to some weird visual effects giving up the trick when the "super-unit" is going to turn and/or climb around its virtual center or mass. Moreover, you might need to keep wings and rudders separate from the fuselage, as the unit_Airplane controller points to them, and I am not sure what could happen if the relative fields are left blank, or made to point to dummy bones on the model.
Last: how do you think that 20 identical models rendered at once can hang up the game? Sure, reducing model's complexity can help to some degree, but personally I think the contrail particles have a bigger impact on FPS than the rendering of the model itself. Maybe you should consider reducing the number of particles too, though I must agree that the current effect looks very nice
By the way, found this picture on the web:
The caption reads: Large formation of Boeing B-17Fs of the 92nd Bomb Group flying over Germany, 1943 ca.