Some valid points are being made on both sides of the argument.
I can see a beginners point of view of not wanting to get shot down immediately, and I honestly believe that in the vast majority of cases beginners (and many "intermediate" players) won't have any idea of what happened, or why, or what they could have / should have done differently. Getting slaughtered won't make them any better. And winning won't either, for the exact same reasons. And film IS worthless for anything beyond entertainment unless you know how to interpret what you're seeing, and can visualize other possible options and results.
My kids would love the idea of learning from students with equal skill level, but as a parent I can't agree. I think tossing a 5th grade algebra book into a classroom of 5th graders with the instructions "figure it out with your peers of equal knowledge" would be a mistake. I'm sure they'd all feel pretty equal though, and come out confident that they had it down, hehe. They need the influence of someone who actually knows what they're talking about, and who is willing to share the knowledge in a manner that makes sense and keeps pace with the students growing abilities.
AH is the same way- you won't learn very quickly without willing teachers.
You can only learn so much from fighting others of your skill level. However, those fights will SEEM like great fights, and you'll come out feeling like you've accomplished a great feat if you win, or like you held your own if you lose. It's false security though. The fact that you're both making similar mistakes is what's allowing the fight to continue so long. The reason a beginner vs vet fight is so quick is due to both the vets lack of mistakes, and his ability to see / capitolize on the beginners. Even when the vet makes a mistake the beginner is likely to not even see it, let alone be able to do anything about it (is he even looking in the right direction???).
And also realize that if my opponent only requires me to use 5% of my skill to defeat him, that's all I use. He'll never see the otther 95% unless he makes me show it to him. If I can simply pull behind him and shoot him, I don't do 4 loops and 3 barrel rolls first! Throttle control? Flaps? Why bother?
Stephen's point of running away from the fight when things go sour is like a student answering questions he knows, but avoiding those he doesn't. "2+2? Sure, I know that! 4!" but "2+2(6*7)? Hmm, gotta run!" Unfortunately, he's partially right. If he stays when things go sour fighting someone more experienced, he's very likely to be shot down, regardless of plane types involved or who has advantage. And since he skips out when things get tough, he won't be able to figure out why, simply from the point of lacking experience.
His method INSURES he won't ever possess the skills he fears.
The fact is, achieving success in AH requires a lot of effort. And not just in the game. Are any of the "successful" pilots going to argue that they make no effort to figure things out, outside the game? Research through reading, watching films, etc? Working WITH others, in a teacher / student type relationship? Working with someone who is WILLING and ABLE to teach you is different than simply being shot down by them in the MA... And learning very basic tactics, like BnZ = high speed pass and run if you're not immediately successful. You'll never learn the finer points of BnZ if that's all you do, and you won't be all that successful as a result.
The important point of this discussion seems to me to be one that routinely comes up amongst the trainers. How do we spread the most knowledge in the most efficient manner? Working 1 on 1 on the TA is great- for one at a time. It doesn't do much for the masses though. Ideas have been discussed and are beginning to be implemented to work with more people at a time. Hopefully that works, but it has potential issues too. Regular availability of busy volunteers (trainers) is one, another is less intensive 1v1 training for individuals. Personally I think it's going to be a great way to spread a lot of basic knowledge in a short period, and still leaves room for 1 on 1 training outside of that program. BTW, someone mentioned that a thread (this one?) lead to that idea. Nope, it was already in discussion, and was not related to this thread at all. Just a coincidence...
Sure, there are ways for an interested and motivated individual to find information and help to be more successful in this game. Anyone have any better ideas? Or maybe just some more good ones? I know there are many willing to help, but how can it be done more efficiently? The less-skilled players want to be better, and the more-skilled players want better competition- how do we do that?
MtnMan
