We've also had the project restart several times in that time period. Also remember that we have reaped the benefits from that early development when later patches from IL-2 was used as a test bed for various programming techniques.
If it wasn't for Oleg pushing the boundaries Il2 1946 would not have been what it is today.
Deciding to scrap the 10 odd years of the original development because it had fundimental limitations which were holding it back must have been a big decision. Most other developers wouldn't have done it.
Concidering the massive changes in development teams and management, it's a testiment to the actual code that Loft could come in and get the massive performance improvements in the short time available to him. The basic code must of been there for him to have optimise it in such a short time. It would be interesting to hear his take on events.
When it all comes down to it, it's the attention to detail that really gets me into a sim like CoD
