training missions?

[agrippa]

I'm looking for a way to just take off with whatever aircraft I want, test out its flying characteristics, shoot some simple ground targets, and land. So far the only way to do this is to create a quick mission, let the autopilot land, and then take off and do what I want (after taxing around until I'm lined up to take off). There really should be a simpler way of doing this, yes?

[JediMaster]

You could DL someone else's mission that starts on the runway and edit it to take out the stuff you don't want like enemy AC and ground targets that shoot back. There are lots of those floating around the net.