I'm not an ace pilot in AH, in fact I seldom fly a fighter. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. (Hi Wadke =o)
People want to learn ACM, but there is some confusion of what ACM is and how it fits into combat fighting. ACM for the most part is the basic handling of your plane. It consists of making the plane change direction. It's the vertical moves using the elevators, the horizontal moves using the rudder, and rolling the plane around it's axis. These basic moves are compounded into maneuvers such as the loop, Immel, split s, turn, yoyo, aileron roll, barrel roll and sissors. It's important to be able to perform these basic maneuvers well while retaining energy. But you must then apply these to any situation in air combat. This is where the aces shine.
What I'm talking about is air combat tactics. This is where you put it all together to make it work for you. It only partly involves ACM, like surfing partly involves breathing. It involves the plane you are flying, the plane of your opponent, how many opponents you face, the relative properties (speed and altitude), your armament, and an objective. (Is your objecive to gain air superiority or bomb an enemy installation?) You must be able to react to the situation at hand with a purpose, knowing what the affect of each maneuver will be. For example, you know how to cause your plane to slip. How can this be used to your advantage in the situation at hand? It's like planning out a series of chess moves based upon what you anticipate to be your opponents intention and likely response.
It's this tactical part that you ultimately need to learn, and unfortunately for me you can't learn it at the Holiday Inn. Robert Shaw's book on "Fighter Combat" will help a lot.
