OK, I've flown in early arena a couple of times now in a P-40E.
I'll agree that the "caps" need to be higher, that maybe four arenas is probably one too many (should probably combine the two late arenas into one), and that there needs to be a better way for squads to locate/contact each other (though I recall that HT said something about they were working on this); but
I had only flown in the previous MA twice (got clobbered early both times in six flights), so I avoided it (hoping to come back when I had more experience to take advantage of the better planes), and I'll tell you this - as a new flyer I had a h*** of a lot more fun these two times in the early arena than I had had in the MA. I not only stayed alive longer, I was able to land with my first four victories ever - and for me, a new flyer, that was extremely satisfying

(oh, I did die twice before I was able to achieve this success

, and yes I know I recieved those victories through the efforts of others [I salute you, whoever you are]

- but it felt so
good).
I'll for now stick with "give it time". I expect that HT will tweak it in a couple of weeks and answer many (but not all) of the complaints.
In Pursuit,