In my case the “Case 1” example is partly true with a less of an effective angle once all the factors come into play-
What we see as a horizon plot when running “Hey Whats That” is largely terrain-based, without regard to houses or trees. I am not attaining the range HWT depicts, by a significant margin.
Using the Google Earth line method I posted here https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/google-earth-line-of-sight-how-to/60068 where the imagery supports it shows actual trees and houses and whatnot that are in the way on a certain vector- and how far away they are. ( closer objects naturally mask a wider arc )
Since not all of those objects are truly RF opaque, tree canopy for instance- you end up with a compound jungle of real world , what you get is what you get. I read this paper and tried to understand it: https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/42732/InTech-Radio_wave_propagation_through_vegetation.pdf
I believe one conclusion I can draw is that pine trees are not my friend ! 
