Last Tour one of my former squadmates wanted to fly it.   I hadn't been in one in well over 5-6 months.   Three of us up, I land 5 kills and had 240 rounds left.   
I have outturned all rides in the MA with the exception of the A6M (80% of all of em either with MYSELF outnumbered or 1 vs 1).   As SkyRock said, "It's all in the math."   EXACTLY, knowing when you CAN and CAN'T cut corners and manipulate throttle is the key to this plane.    I also RARELY drop flaps in ANY ride, I find throttle much more reliable and "less E killing".