Interesting and amusing thread ! I'm going with 2 fighters, 2 bombers and 2 trainers.
Fighters :
- Fw-190 A : low to med altitude day fight. Other possible roles : fighter/bomber, night fighter, ground support and even torpedo-bomber haha
- P-38 : high altitude day fight. Other possible roles : interceptor, fighter/bomber, night fighter, ground support, escort fighter, reco
Bombers :
- Ar 234 : light/medium bomber. Could also be used as a reco aircraft
- B-24 : heavy bomber. Could also be used as a coastal patrol aircraft and a transport.
Trainers :
- T-6 : training for single-engined aircraft
- Avro Anson : training for multi-engined aircraft. Other roles : rescue, service, liaison aircraft
The main logic behind these choices is linked with flexibility. Many roles can be performed by many aircrafts, I don't want to have a specific plane for one particular task at the beginning. Considering the evolution of the conflict it'll be possible to assign an aircraft to a more specific role or make a few modifications to adapt it a bit better to a certain task.
The 2 fighters aren't the very best of their category but still tough opponents. They are quite complementary performance-wise but both can be used for a large variety of missions if needed.
I've chosen the Arado obviously for its speed and low chances of being intercepted, pretty interesting for a bomber that can carry 1800-2000 kg of bombs. Strategical and long range missions would be assigned to the Liberator.
I pick 2 trainers because a large majority of my air force is composed by multi-engined aircrafts, more complex to fly. I'd like to limitate the accident rate during the learning phase and at the beginning of a pilot's operationnal life.
Few drawbacks I can see to this "set-up" :
- Not the cheapest air force to maintain and produce in quantity. Needs more ressources than other ones stated below to be fully operationnal.
- No career-based aircraft. A problematic point if the context is like in the PTO. However, I think the P-38 and the B-24 have the potential to cause some serious troubles at long range, that kind of compensate.