Pre 2.4 there was arguably also less drive to develop aircraft for the mod, at least from my persepective.
When Stubbfan and Kev4000 combined their forces to create an overhauled flying physics experience that new inspiration was descovered to help flesh out the Forgotten Hope airforces. hence the record amount of new wings for the next patch
And just a side note, As well as exporting and coding, the P-40 was textured almost entirely by Stubbfan
In otherwords you can thank him for bringing this vehicle to the light