Staging bases

[humble1]

Here is the situation. I am WA and I hold the heel of Italy with about 6 level 2 airbases.
I have packed the airbases with short range f-b like a deadly anti armor tempest aircraft.
When I select a ground attack mission and a target enemy unit near the heel of Italy the
staging base defaults to a Sicily airbase. Meaning that my short range aircraft will fly to
Sicily and then returning back to their targets. This triggers the out of range warning and
900 aircraft are inactive. So then I change the staging base to near the heel of Italy and bingo
my 900 aircraft can now be in range of the target.

Here is the problem. During the air execution phase the computer defaults my staging base to
Sicily. So my f-b don't fly because they are out of range again. What's the deal here? Why
is the computer overriding my manual staging base choice?

Many thanks.

[carlkay58]

Check the supply priority and status of your Italian airbases. If they are not currently in supply they will not be used as staging airbases.

[Helpless]

When SB is selected automatically there are minimum range requirements - more than 2 hexes away from enemy hex and more than 5 hexes away from target. Once you set it manually it should trigger follow path parameter to yes and SB shouldn't be reset during execution.