I think there should be more ways to defend your plane from things like the battleships or other planes. There should be things like flares and more intercept missiles. I know there are mods for that but downloading mods for some people can be a hassle. I was also thinking of having the ability to add armor to your plane so it can withstand bullets long enough to fire a missile. You have the option to add armor at the expense of weight. Armor health would be indicated with a third bar under throttle and fuel. Your plane will begin taking damage when the new bar reaches 0%
True, I meant fuel should have more properties. If a bullet strikes a fuel tank it would leak if it didn't have some sort of protection. There doesn't need to be an animation of fuel leakage but I would like to see the fuel meter deplete faster for every bullet that punctures the tank. Add some realism if you know what I mean.
I just had another idea. Why not add fuel physics to the game. If the part of the fuselage containing fuel takes damage, fuel depletes faster. This will make it crucial to armor planes designed to attack.