Okay.... Poe Dameron is "the best pilot in the resistance" and has a customised Black T-70 X-wing. Fair enough.

So why is he in a generic white-and-blue one on Jakku? It's not like he's there incognito - he's turned up in a front-line military assault fighter that's an iconic resistance ship, after all, just....someone else's from the unit that he's borrowed for the day, apparently.

If it was the other way around - Black One gets wasted on Jakku, he's in a 'generic' T-70 on Takodana it'd seem to make more sense.

Am I missing something that explains this?

Also, can anyone see the top of his fighter in any of the Takodana scenes? just wondering what kind of astromech he was using whilst BB-8 was off having fun and hi-jinks?

Maybe Black One was being repaired the day Leia gave him the mission.

Great writing brah!

Yet another inconsistancy of TFA.

He might just not want to use his top of the line combat vehicle for merely traveling. The AP cannon on the blue and white ship also suggests some infiltration purpose.

Poe at Takodana, according to Wookieepedia:

From what I've picked up, the T-70 is now surplus and outdated having been replaced with the T-85. It's not uncommon among mercenaries and militias to have them... this is built on very few facts and more assumptions though.

T-65s were being flown by a militia front in Bloodline as they were surplus.

T-85s have been mentioned as the Republic's mainline X-Wing starfighter.

The resistance is armed largely with surplus items they could pick up or be quietly supplied with by the Republic. They can't very well supply this group with frontline fighters as the Republic was NOT at war with the First Order... officially.

A customized black and orange T-70 is a bit more personal - so might be easier to identify, particularly if it's consistently been seen in action against the First Order.

Poe at Takodana, according to Wookieepedia:

Rather appropriately, that looks like a "flowerpot head" astromech - so apparently R5-P9 is supposed to be his backup astromech after all.

From what I've picked up, the T-70 is now surplus and outdated having been replaced with the T-85.

Going by the background info, I'd say the T-70 is still being used by the New Republic - the T-85 being too new to have replaced it completely.

While " latest i ncarnation of a classic design" (Databank)

http://www.starwars.com/databank/resistance-x-wing

stretches things slightly - I could see the T-85 being limited in quantities so far - like the F-22 Raptor as compared to the F15 Eagle.