Skullace,
Scaling is a personal thing,you cant really have it way off as every stick is different and the person controlling it also.
Myself,I have all sliders across the top on all axises but wouldnt recommend that to others.
As to pedals,yes they make a difference because you wont get the unwanted inputs to the yaw axis when pulling the trigger. I suspect that your elevator is causing the nose bounce,however you could have some yaw inputs if you're clumsy with the pedals.
I suggest you use sock feet and dont wear shoes so you have a better feel of the pedals.
Having said all this I also think my buddy Fugi is on to your problem!! You can easily overcontrol your aircraft,it's hard to be smooth when in the heat of battle and you just have to get that bandit no matter what....

If you drop by the training arena,I'm usually in there in the evenings,I can tell you what I think better if I watch you fly for a couple minutes. Just last night I noticed a player with alot of nose bounce,I suggested how he/she could correct it and the player was amazed at the difference,after a few minutes he was filling full of lead and then went off to try out this difference in the Mains.
You could try lowering the first couple or 3 sliders on the left to reduce some of the initial elevator inputs,that might settle the nose down. You can use the .target command to see any effects the changes make in your shooting.
hope that helps!
