Suggestion: Turret Stabilization for the Cobra Gunner

First, let me congratulate you on a successful launch, Tripwire Interactive and Antimatter Games. I'm a game developer myself so I know firsthand the blood, sweat and tears that go into making a game like this. I hope you guys are proud: you've made an excellent game. The helicopters in this game are first-rate as well, and I very much enjoy flying them.

First: Before anyone comments that the Cobra is already overpowered (in the right hands), I agree. However, the best way to nerf something powerful is to buff its counters: slight changes to the damage of the RPD or DShK, or even to the respawn time of the chopper could have huge impacts. Directly decreasing the power of something tends to yield results similar to the Battlefield series.

I've been getting my friends to join me in the Cobra lately and they've been having some trouble. They've complained about feeling disoriented, and have complained that it's very hard to see targets on the ground. I've worked on steadying my orbits around a point of interest to help them, but the effect is limited (it also makes us much easier to shoot down) and they're still having trouble. As it stands the Cobra gunner position feels more like a ride-along, rather than a role that has a significant impact on the battle. I've had gunners come out with as little as 3 kills from an entire 30 minute game!

I think this is a very special role in the game and it makes me sad to see people in the front seat not feeling like they can be effective.

Fortunately, I think this could be addressed with a simple, subtle compromise in realism: Turret stabilization. If you're unclear on what I mean by turret stabilization, here's a really short example. Also, here is a biological example
In a nutshell, the gun turret automatically counter-rotates to correct for changes in rotation of the chassis.

Perhaps this technology did not exist in the Vietnam era (hey, a Loach couldn't telemetrically highlight tunnel exits either!), but if this were implemented I think it would be a silver bullet to addressing the problems outlined above. This would steady the perspective of the gunner, allowing them to better see targets on the ground. To be clear, I'm not advocating this change to make them more accurate, but to reduce the overall motion of the screen so that they can have a better picture of what's happening on the ground. If you're sitting in a helicopter, your brain basically does this automatically for you.

Have you guys in the community been enjoying the Cobra gunner seat? Do you think this change would make the position more enjoyable, or have you been coping just fine without it? Do you have an alternative solution to make the gunner seat better?

Suggestion: Turret Stabilization for the Cobra Gunner