Here's a thought...
I was trying to think of a real reason that I shouldn't just ditch or bail and then re-up the same ride. For me, the 5-10 minutes trip home isn't really worth the extra perkies I'm going to get, especially since I got all the perkies I need anyway. Heck when the ENY is high, I can't even spend 'em when I want to.
Rank isn't worth much other than for CV control, and I won't even bother mentioning all the various dweebish ways there are to inflate your rank anyway.
That said, I think the game would benefit from having a real reason to bring the rides home again. So I'll give you one - the MECHANICS BONUS.
You're fresh from flight school, and you show up on a field and they give you a stock, factory fresh . Now your maintenance chief knows that those slugs in the factory couldn't find their buttocks with both hands, so he starts working to bring your aircraft up to snuff. He'll start tuning the engine for better fuel consumption & more power, greasing up your guns just right so that you can get maximum rate of fire, maybe adding those shackles for those underwing guns you wanted, or tuning up your control cables a bit for that bit of extra snap you were looking for, or turning up the hydraulic pressure so you can pull out of that dive a bit easier.
Tweaks wouldn't have to be all that much to make it worthwhile to bring a ride home.
Sample List:
Engine Tune #1: -5% fuel consumption
Engine Tune #2: +5% engine power
Gun Tune: guns go from stock ROF to maximum ROF on each weapon
Controls Tune: +5% on control surfaces (??)
Armor Kits: add extra armor to critical items like oil / fuel tanks (??)
Ordnance Kits: optional gun packages or special ordnance loadings available (pylon guns, rocket mountings, special bombs).
You get the idea. It gives a pilot a real incentive to bring his ride home. The more sorties he completes with his ride, the more work gets done on it, so he ends up with a more customized ride.
Caveat 1: No work gets done unless you make a successful (ie. score perkies) sortie. You can also make the case that you must land kills to get work done on your ride.
Caveat 2: Lose the ride, lose the bonus. Crash, get shot down or bail out, and it's gone. Your replacement ride arrived from the factory today, Sir - doesn't look as nice as your old one, and the seat isn't nearly as comfy...
EagleDNY
$.02
"Imaginative Solutions to Common Problems"