So I have decided to go full-bore and make my Space Marines a Salamanders successor, but now I have a few questions for the community to help me flesh out my lists without deviating too much from the fluff. The core premises and questions I have are:

Most, if not all, of my armies will be led by a counts-as Vulkan with a command squad with 5 flamers because it will point to an enemy infantry unit and make it go away.

I have decided that the core of my army is going to be made up of drop pods, because drop pods. Well, that and I think it is the best way to deliver my melta a flamers to the enemy.

How many Tactical Squads, armed with all-out melta, should I bring? How many men should they be at, say, 1850?

In my test games, 5 man suicide Assault Squads with 2 flamers have worked really well. Is this something I should use as a supplement to Vulkan and his Command Squad most of the time?

Can I use flyers without being a complete jerk who only accepts the fluff when it suits him? I am under the impression that the reason the Salamanders don't use a lot of flyers, land speeders, bikes, etc. is because of the wonky gravity on their home planet.

If I shouldn't use flyers, are Hunters or Stalkers an acceptable substitute? If so, which?

What should I use to kill monstrous creatures? One of the seeming shortcomings of many types of Space Marines, and Salamanders in particular, is that their options for reliably killing things of toughness 6+ is rather limited. I have come up with a few ways I might be able to combat this: Sternguard in drop pods (Maybe combi weapons?) and use hellfire rounds. Rifleman Dreads. Terminators in a Redeemer with cyclone missile launchers.

Any help you guys could provide would be great. Thanks in advance and I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors.