I've done it if I'm in a 152 or something and there's a horde of 10+ 400 behind me, no point trying to fight that.
I usually duke it out if it's a "reasonable" gang-bang... Say, 5 or 6 vs 1. Much worse odds than that though, and I may switch gears. I generally like the challenge of a "clean" 3v1. 4v1 is getting pretty tough though, and 5v1 is practically unmanageable. Anything much beyond that is a waste of everyone's time and effort.
First of all, none of them want a "fight". If they did, they wouldn't need 6+ "wingmen". Put up a great fight, and it'll go unnoticed in the random melee anyway. They're all just trying to get guns-on as fast as possible, and land some hits on you before "their" (earned?) kill gets "stolen". Regardless, it isn't a "fight" from their perspective. Not with a swarm like that...
Second, why support their dweebery, and make it entertaining for them? That'll just reinforce that type of behavior. Far better to do what you can to make it a less-entertaining scenario. Waste their time as much as possible, and then belly-land before they can land hits. Don't "auger" and die, try to land it; it's much harder, and hopefully more humiliating. Waste their time if possible by dragging them far away from the base they're swarming, then reverse back into them, bleeding your E so you can land on your next reversal. Don't end flight right away; you may actually score a few kills as they panic-strafe you. If you need to, fire a few short bursts while you're on the ground if they have trouble figuring out where you went. If you can manage a kill or two before you belly-land, so much the better! Just don't let them land any hits, or they'll think they "earned" the kill.
Third, none of them expects your "kill" anyway. They know they have a pretty remote chance of being the "lucky" one with the kill, so expect an assist at best.
If you put up too much of a fight, they'll think the landing was an accident, and think that it was a "victory". Next thing you know, we'll have guys thinking "Man, I'm/we're finally getting better! The 8 of us just totally "owned" that guy!"
If they can't show you any respect, or a certain level of "class", why should you extend any to them?