To Hex or Not to Hex... That Is The Question

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up my game mat for Bag the Hun and I'm still torn between hexes or no. I like the idea of no hexes and just use inches for all distances and templates to help with the maneuvers. However the hexes would speed up play and simplify everything. I'm torn between the two as each appeals to me. I may have to get the mat done without hexes and then decide whether to draw them on myself, as if I choose to go with hexes then the next obvious question is 'how big?'. The flight stand bases are approximatley 1" so I'm thinking maybe 1.5" hexes, maybe even 2" to give the bombers a bit more room. That would mean less hexes on the mat though, *sigh*... too many choices.