"I cannot give you a progress report on 200+ employees. many of our staff work long hours and extra days, and still, EA will be a long period of time for something like the Hornet or the AH-64 or whatever...."
It never fails to amaze me how many people make assumptions about EDs workflow and development processes, based on broad perceptions of where they think a module's at, and then rip into the team for the inconvenience incurred. While the Hornet has been in EA for a long time, I can't imagine there's anyone in ED planning ways to keep it there just for giggles, or out of laziness and incompetence. I've especially appreciated the Hornet's capability in a multiplayer environment. 2.7's release has been a massive improvement to the aesthetic of the game, and the teasers we've seen on the Apache were a really pleasant surprise. The community has vast and competing wants, and possibly needs, but let's not overlook the tremendous work that's been achieved in the last 12 months across a broad range of products making this the go to combat flight sim.