It would be nice to have at the start of a career a set of training missions to simulate you working up your skills on a new aircraft. Perhaps landing one of your training missions in some danger (being jumped by an enemy flight, having to try to get away in your unarmed training kite).
Same goes for when a campaing transfers you to a new aircraft type: some familiarization with the new airframe would probably be realistic before being thrown into combat with it.
Not all missions should have to result in combat (in reality it was often 1 in 10 that got into a shooting situation). Idealistically, a non-combat mission can still be made exciting, perhaps by making the scenery interesting (seeing/reporting ship movements, rail or road traffic, other aircraft).
Also weather changes can make a mission interesting: incoming fog or rain-squalls can make the navigation challenging, and result in an adrenaline-raising landing.
With respect to navy shipping: historically these guys were shooting at every airplane (shoot first, ask questions later), especially in reduced visibility. 1C might consider to recreate this AI behaviour; it will ensure that everybody respects navy ships
