I found the Bearcat to be the cleanest flying fighter in the entire series. Somehow, it never felt as finicky as the other super-maneuverable high-powered fighters (the Rapier, the Excalibur, the Vampire) in the games, while still being able to fly circles around everyone else. And I loved the four tachs, although making them centerline mounted instead of wintip mounted would have been even better.
I think I counted the "flashpack Ella" mission correctly as Dragon (excuse me, "Lance") only. But I think I've only flown that mission once...I perfer to save the flashpack for Mr. Vesuvius, so when I think of the "Ella" mission, I think of the one where you have to run the guantlet by it. And in that one you definitely get the Bearcat as an option if you have them.