Mephisto: REALLY looking forward to that one!
As for carrier design? Well, I'm all for the carrier following the squadrons in and taking part. I tend to make my carriers missile armed so as to help in overloading enemy PDs.
Generally when I decide I'm going to play a 'fighter race', I research up the missile tree for support. Its a great force multiplier for your fighters when every ship in the fleet is sending in missiles for support.
Talenn