I like the current DM, it seems much more believable (reasons already given by other posters above).
The relatively low power armament of the aircraft we currently have, combined with the fact that most of them are unarmored for the most part results mostly in fuel tank ruptures and subsequent fires, or fire due to engine damage.
If we had 190s and typhoons or 30mm cannon 109s i'm sure we'd see aircraft disintegrating more often due to structural damage, but for now it's usually a case of set it on fire, make the engine seize, start a fuel leak/degrade his aerodynamic capabilities and wait until he glides into a crash or kill the pilot. I think it's not that far fetched to be honest.
Best thing i ever saw was hosing down a Spit with the cowl-mounted MGs of my 109 and as i was about to close the distance and finish him off with cannon i saw him developing failures in real time without being shot at. In other words, i damaged something which damaged something else which started a fire, i didn't fire a single shot at him after the first pass and he still went down.
I had just pulled up above him in a high yo-yo to come back down on his six as he was making a left hand turn after my initial attack when i saw it, so i kept high and just looked at him go into the drink thinking to myself "this is awesome".
Initially he just had a fuel leak and some misfiring cylinders (easily identified by flames coming off of individual exhaust stacks), but as he was diving for cover while turning i saw he started streaking one smoke trail, then another one from the other side of the engine the next second and he went in in a slow, wide, diving spiral.
What probably happened is that his damaged engine was running hot, the fuel from the ruptured tank got ignited and he bailed out.
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