I am with mailman on this;
there are quite a few users who moan about sublte 3d defects in certain aircraft types, yet Battleship row full of KGV BBs (only 4 of those were ever built) does not bother many guys;
if we strive for added realism, the choice of a KGV BB as default US BB is one of the gravest realism errors that can happen in any WW2 PTO flight sim that can happen;
KGVs were only present at the beginning of the war (when the Prince of Wales was sunk) and at the last stages, when the British Pacific Fleet finally came into being;
so replacing the default US BB with something much more realistic should be a prime topic for any PTO afficionado;
I am sure using Hurricanes as replacement Wildcats would stir quite a few US guys as well, as wood using Spitfires as stand in Yaks and so on...
but Gerax is of course right as well, its up to the final user to either install a mod or not - the need though is certainly there and it is fully justified historically speaking
regarding carriers, I guess the best choice for a default US CV would surely be USS Enterprise, as she could be used through the full timeframe of the pacific war...