I play almost exclusively in cockpit mode. There is enough information on your HUD to be able to keep track of everything you need IMO.

I really wish the camera wasn't so stilted in cockpit mode.

i mostly play hud mode tbh it gives me clearer view

Cockpit mode is horrible. it blocks your vision and you don't have the advantage of being able to easily look around like in VR or a real plane so the immersion really isn't there.

3rd person or 1st person without cockpit are the only reasonable options.

Nothing wrong with playing in a specific way. I like seeing the jet so I stick with 3rd person. If you like the extra challenge of cockpit view then yeah, power to you.

cockpit view or nothing, pretty much everything you need is there and the rest just requires a little situational awareness

I've gone between 3rd person and cockpit views. It's not a problem for me but I did play a bunch of flight sims before.

If you're not used to cockpit view, where some cockpits have worse visibility than others, I do understand when someone doesn't want to use it.

Be glad it's Cold War or newer aircraft! Some WWII era cockpits made you fee like you were trying to look outside a box or a cage, while others had a fabulous bubble canopy.

MiG-21 and F-14 have bad forward visibility in their cockpits but damnit, it's staying on for my immersion.

its the only way i play.

First time I played AC7 I did cockpit view all the way to the end. It was fun. I kinda hate how limiting it is though so now I do HUD view like 90% of the time.

I did it for immersion. However, it's also true that it's mechanically disadvantageous to both 3rd person and HUD.

I only play in cockpit mode, it feels weird to fly in third person, my depth perception gets super skewed and it's easier to line up the gun in cockpit mode.

Cockpit mode purist here, game works just fine. I only swap to third person/exterior mode to get some eye candy during those dull moments where the game wants to talk to you but nothing is happening.

First person (only hud/no internals) is something I wish I could just straight disable.

through the whole series I alternate between cockpit and third person depending on the vibe
but in the case of this game in particular, the FOV is so claustrophobic that I stick to third person mostly
I hope they add a FOV slider or at least a TV/PC toggle for the FOV

I never leave the cockpit while in the air.

I prefer cockpit view. Especially on the old jets where you can hardly see anything. Because i'm weird like that

But yes, the HUD shows everything you need to know. Except in third person mode.