Couldn't we just have little inflight "power up" ballons that repair the damage? They could hang about the countryside like little barrage balloons. You'd have to fly right into it to get the repairs and it would cost you those awesome perk point things.
If you were out of perks, you could fly through but nothing would happen.
We could make them country specific too, so if you flew through an enemy barrage balloon you'd explode.
Man, we could put some cool stuff in with this concept!
We could have "repair" ballons, "medic" balloons for pilot wounds, "ammo" balloons, "ordnance" balloons... the possibilities are almost endless.
Of course, we could have GV tents too that do the same things. And maybe even "tune up" tents that let GV's roll down hills at say... 250 miles an hour instead of just 100.......