It didn't start out that badly if you were a ten year old at the tme...
Jags provided the opposition in the first episode. The Phantoms disappeared a few episodes into the series leaving Harriers, Hercules and Puma. The SH element was largely ignored, apart from a Puma being shot down (by an enemy fighter - actually a Jag) in the first episode, the Jag then being despatched by a Phantom (art imitating life...).
The link conjures up a few memories - notably the fact that when the eponymous squadron was required to despatch a Dominie after the crew died of hypoxia [sic] - which was, I think, episode 2, even the average 10 year old viewer was less-than convinced about the plot. ISTR that the flying sequences reduced over time as well (connected with a certain little problem in the South Atlantic?), and it wasn't exactly must-see viewing.