Nate Montez rules rock. After the first game my group ever played, we've played with the Montez rules every game ever since (and that's YEARS of BFG games, btw).
In fact, after discussing it, our group gives the fighters, bombers, and assault boats of each race an attacking (for fighters only) and defending value for combat. Any survivors of combat need to roll to see if they have expended their fuel (hence needing to go back to base). The remaining AC on the board need to decide whether they disengage or continue to fight. We also give the option of having green, veteran, or elite AC pilots. Green pilots mean cheaper carriers and have a -1 in combat. Veteran are normal. Elite have a +1. We have played this way for a few years and it hardly slows the game down at all.
-Zhukov