Planes on FH2 2.4 is quite okay actually, compared to previous version. I can now perfectly strafe foot soldiers, kill lightly armored vehicles. Also, the bomb blast physics is slightly exaggerated, but that really helps a lot since there are no other method to balance out air power effect on the battlefield besides this.
The weakness and realism-preventing game mechanics is pretty inherent in BF2 engine: view distance. In Il-2, you can fly above 5,000 metres and still be able to see the ground targets. I can make perfect hell dive there, even last minute desperate dives will most often do it. But in BF2, I have to approximate the target's location based on first fly pass. That makes fast vehicles or tanks like jeeps or Crusaders very difficult to attack.
With such limited view distance, every thing we observe will be gone very fast, controls become very difficult because obstacles seems to appear at the very last moment. Despite the very slow speed of FH2 planes, it won't help newbies at all. It is probably easier for them to fly in a more realistic Il-2 than arcade BF2 due to the view distance.
A good map for ground attack practice is El-Alamein 64 SP, and the best way to practice is by being on German side and use the front most British base (Tell el-Makh Khad) for ground attack course. It is defended by a single bofors AA and a few MGs. You can practice to shoot tanks, trucks, soldiers, or guns there.
