In real life captains followed a variation of this theory, following the incoming signal until the plane came into vision, staying on the surface. After the plane was sighted, they would then evaluate whether or not the plane was a concern, sometimes slowing down to reduce wake, the most visible sign of a submarine on the surface.
Time after time in the books written by submariners I have read accounts of subs remaining on the surface and observing planes for five or ten minutes, usually just letting them fly off harmlessly. They would only dive if the plane's behavior indicated that they had or would detect the sub.
Since in the game submarines are MUCH more visible than they were in real life (you can almost guarantee that a plane entering the danger radius is going to attack) and because it is a game not reflecting the reality of how a submarine operates anyway, I think it's reasonable to trade knowledge you shouldn't have for knowledge the plane shouldn't have.
Also crews did tricks with the radar antenna to give them some directionality to their detection to have a general idea of the plane's bearing. In practice, range alone was enough information to implement the strategy. In the game we have the choice of knowing range and bearing or flushing both. I believe less harm is done to reality by knowing both.
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