I fly 190s almost exclusively, and it is rare that a PonyD worries me. In fact, I relish a good 1v1 against a PonyD. The reason is not because the 190 is better than the PonyD in an overall 1v1 fight, it is because I know how to fight the 190 and most sticks have no clue how to fight the PonyD.
I would keep my speed high, pull a soft-G turn towards him, he'll close rapidly and then when he gets to 600m pull hard and drop two notches of flaps. No way he can turn with you and 99% chance he won't get a good snap shot. The moment he passes through, pull your flaps, flatten out and retain as much E as possible. You've got him to overshoot, now see what he does.
- If he goes verticle, watch where he goes and work for a couple more overshoots like I described. A few of those and you will end up on the deck, neutral speed and ready for a good 1v1 stall fight, which you should win.
- If he blows through, go into a good steady climb, work for altitude and head back to where you need to go. He'll run and you can't catch him.
- He may blow through, go out 4k and reset for another pass. This is why you grab for more alt. If he comes through again you may even have an alt advantage.
- If per chance he tries to slow down and turn with you on the first pass, you may have run into Pervert (in which case your SOL) or a noob who doesn't know any better. You are in danger until you get him to overshoot. Tight turns with two notches of flaps and he'll fall out pretty quickly. You can't roll/reverse with a 190 though use rudder to improve roll rate. The 190 will outroll you though in a rolling scissors you'll out turn the 190. Within two or three turns you'll be neutral and pushing the advantage.
A trick I've found with the PonyD is the speed climb. Set your speed climb to 260knts. At that speed you will climb at 2k/min and by 10k you'll be doing 300kts actual. That is plenty of speed to manuever and, if I am not mistaken, not on a Dora/K4/Tempest, etc can speed climb 260kts with a PonyD. They can go that fast, just not climb 2k/min while doing it. I love that feature of the PonyD.
My two overrated cents.
boo
