@Nodnarb: consistently straight is definitely a good thing. better on the fairway than in the rough for the second shot. hmm.. your swing speed may be fairly close to mine since my average driver yardages are fairly close. are you using regular or stiff shafts?
@Jmac: 12 degrees sounds crazy too. then again, i find carry a lot more important as well. air's more dense here so higher launch = better.
how's your ball/address position? i read this article and it helped me figure out how to get my launch angles higher (as a result, more carry):
Hit it farther with the right attack angle - GolfWRX. for me, the only thing i needed to change was my spine angle. maybe give it a try the next time you're on the range? just be careful though. it may/may not work so take it with a grain of salt at first. just thought i'd share something that worked for me.