OK ... I'll tweak things some more ... I can just picture 24 SBD's attacking a like number of Vals ... yikes.
-- edit --
I'm adding in the reserve aircraft rules. I test flew the Val and SBD and while they do indeed suck, they aren't that far off in terms of speed, turn rate, armor, and firepower from the Ki-27 and Buffalo. They're obviously far less effective that the front-line ships, so if you take serious losses your combat effectiveness will suffer a lot flying these second line ships. But if a couple of Vals can corner a Hurri or Spit down low, they can certainly kill it. Likewise an SBD could down a M2 Zero if give half a chance.
I do prefer this to making people sit out missions.