After another run I found mix results on if a plane would need rearming or not, but I think that was just unclear if it was actually able to intercept the enemy or not. Sometimes they came back uncolored for rearming, sometimes they didn't. Probably just me being dumb!
Yeah it seems a confusing mechanic that doesn't really add anything, think for consistency I will make all planes need rearming when land. I do like the idea of queuing up small squadrons of planes to launch on a key press, it really rewards players for planning ahead. Will have a think about best way to do it so player has enough info to make the decision (eg allow player to think - aha I should have 3 reds ready to go!)