I would recommend a special terrain. It was talked about but I don't know if anybody ever put one together. To avoid problems, what is needed is a special terrain with two fields. The fields need to be owned by the same team to take ack out of the picture. Both fields should be at 10k and be in close proximity to each other. The immediate area should be bounded by 40k mountains. Then you just line both teams up on the runways and call "fight is on". After that, anything goes. I'd also do it in the TA or the SEA and get the fuel multiplier to nothing to avoid the "running the other guy out of gas" problem.
Trust me guys when I say that you MUST keep this as simple as possible. If it is possible to work up a terrain like this for dueling, that's the way to go. If not, search out the current terrain for something decent in the TA and limit folks to within certain sectors. Have a referee fly on each side to watch the sectors and warn folks if they get close or call a halt if somebody steps over the line. (Better to make the team that steps over lose that round by default to be fair.)
Merging at certain alts with guns cold and referees just won't work. Between eager pilots and net lag you will have problems every time. I've been through this enough times to know. (If anybody remembers the infamous first WB squad duel tourney, you'll know what I mean. I was the last guy flying in the highly contested fight where the enemy decided to run me out of gas instead of fight my P-38 that only had one engine.)
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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com "A pig is a jolly companion, Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt --
A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale, Though mountains may topple and tilt.
When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you, When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig,
Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
You'll never go wrong with a pig!" -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"