I am not a fan of the China Rising maps, they have a definite lack of cover, and really play to the Jets IMO.
The bomber is a joke if you have a decent jet pilot or AA gunner. Hell even choppers can take it out. There is very little cover for infantry, tanks, or Choppers, its just non-stop strafing runs. (I started avoiding the CR maps about a week after they came out)
So yea, I will give you that on those maps, Choppers need some sort of boost. I would almost say increase their speed, but they won't do that. So yea, Flares would do the trick sadly. Its just a shame it will skew the other non CR maps