I think the plot point was that Lee, unlike all the rest of the pilots who were in the newer and therefore more networked planes, wasn't hit when the Cylons "flipped the switch" and turned all the technology off. That was how he survived, saved Colonial One, and got back to Galactica.

And, no, not very efficient at all. I like to think that Tyrol sent him in it, with some side excuse, because Lee had been such an ass about flying the plane he and his crew had worked so hard to salvage in the first place. Random headcanon!