Same here, I play CFS3 : OFF mod for single player as its a lot better and really gets me flying 30 minutes to a target without TC
and sometimes for nothing! perhaps to get banged up by enemy aircraft.
and then you have to fly back to base too
but its worth it
and IL2 1946 just kicks all others in terms of multiplayer.
its stable as a house, and the playing a campaign with friends is a lot more fun as anything can happen.
you can even open both sides (allied & Axis) and play against eachother too on the same campaign
HunterICX