Best way to learn is to get in there and mix it up. until we all fly the same plane, the same way, at the same alt, with the same goal etc, rank will mean nothing, other then an artificual measuring stick for folks who think it matters.
There is nothing better in the game, in my opinion, then having been in a joystick bending, dogfight where you've used everything you've learned, and tried a few more things out of desperation, trying to survive. Many times you'll lose those fights early on, but then you hit a point where it changes, and things that didn't work, start working and you come out the other end of one of those fights, wondering how you did it, but knowing that you can compete with the better sticks in the game.
You also find yourself, not worrying about having all the advantages because it's more about pushing it as far as you can, and challenging yourself to win from a disadvantage.
It always cracks me up to see one of the great sticks up into a mess and clean house. Even funnier is when the word gets around and the baduns quit coming down, or only come down with 3-4 to 1 advantage. Even then it doesn't always help.
I watched a pretty good stick in a 109 last night, fight from a low alt disadvantage against 4 C Hogs with alt and E. He got three of them, I got the other. They were so panicked by what he was doing in that 109 that the one guy didn't see me sneak up from his low 6 and blast him.
One of the things I know about that 109 stick is that he looks for a fight, and doesn't ever avoid them. He knows that we're not really dying, and that fighting is the point. He's gotten that good by taking the challenge and not by flying safe or worrying about his 'score'.
In the end it's all about having fun whichever way you fly.
