1) Yes

2) No - unless you unpack the training mission and resave it which is a lot of work

3) if you let the time run, you'll see the aircraft icons moving across the map. For carrier AC, let them get a little bit away from the carrier icon before clicking fly

4) What I mean is that I think once you're down, your aircraft stays still but the carrier moves meaning that given enough time, the carrier will have moved so far that it is no longer under you. Once on the deck just be prepared to make a quick exit.

I would recommend you make a tactical engagement (TE) using the mission editor. What you need to do is (and I'm doing this from memory so may not be 100%

1) Assign a squadron to an airbase (Just to test, choose an F18 squadron - i think you may have to do an extra step to get the f15's working). The squadron icon is on the right side of the screen and the one that's a bit like a crystal ball (hovering your mouse on it will tell you what the icon is. Another option might be to just right-click on and airfield and add the quadron that way.

2) Once you have the squadron down, you need to create a flight. The icon on the right with the 2 little planes is create package I think. Right-Click (?) somewhere on the map and it should give you a screen to make a flight - you'll need to choose the squadron you added to the airfield in step 1.

3) Set the take off time 10 minutes after the world time (for want of a better word, the "world time" is up in the top right corner and should default to 9am).

4) save the mission and then fly it. You should find yourself in the pit of your chosen plane to test out. I particularly liek the AV-8B. You don't get full hover capability but it's pretty good and you get napalm which is loads of fun.