Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3522837-20150415174546/@comment-25467429-20150417154157

Most games make it clear who is a nugget and who has expereince. And while in general there are instances of vets using older planes, it is far from common, or sensible given the situations in these games, that a vet would just decide to use an inferior plane for kicks. The player character is usually an underdog fighting for their sides very survival, so they need to use the best thing they can get their hands on to help turn the tides. That being said, what plane most start with is of little importance as the mechanics of these as games usually dictates that you start with a very basic plane - usually an F-4 or F-5.

There is litte evidence to support the idea that Mobius 1 is anything but a skilled rookie whose abilities grow throuhgout the conflict. That he is a single plane squad is only assumed because we don't have any information on any other Mobius aircraft or reference to what squadron he flies to. But Mobius is his callsign, not his squad. It's entirely possible Mobius 1 is part of another squad until later in the game after more territory and supplies are reclaimed and there is likely a reorganizaion of the military forces (likely at about the time ISAF initiates their retaking of the mainland). Given his accomplishments by then, it would make sense to make him the head of one of the new squads - the same way it was done in AC5 after Heartbreak 1 disappears, and in Infnity - instead of introducing some new person as the player-character's new lead.

I personally doubt any of the MCs from the series are the same individual across games. Using similar planes is not unexpected. Cipher and Talisman use F-15 variants. These are ultimately mid-tier planes with relatively simple maintenance, hence a simple upkeep for a pair of vet pilots whose skills can offset the fact they don't have immediate access to top-quality material due to their situation (usually their side thrust into a conflict on the severely wounded side). That some end up with similar planes too is not unusal because you're talking about upgrading to one of the best end-tree planes in the game. Given the usual dichotomy between the heroes and villains of the series (usually the enemy aces favor Russian/German aircraft) it's a limited selection of what planes the hero will end up with short of giving them an original plane (like the XFA-27).