Fragments (from emergency landings and such) may count against the limit; I'm not sure.
I would think they do.
It's also possible that simply the "first five" (contrast with the Final Five) would fly operations.
This I doubt, but I've no experience in the matter. TBH the comments I made above about the five group limit were to show my friend how the game worked, as we were actually looking at each others' moves more or less. It was a learning game for him. I was surprised when the carrier operated its aircraft, and told him it must be in relation to the fragments. One thing for sure is that the carrier had more than five units or parts thereof on board. Oh, and to clarify a bit it was well under its maximum capacity for carrying planes.
