I find that avoiding the HO gives you the advantage 9 x out of 10. If you both merge and pull and emmilman into the HO, that's a very risky situation. I often try to avoid it so I can gain a better position, but if you are going so slow that you cannot avoid, it's a 50/50 chance. Normally, if I see they have guns firing, If they are shooting, I'll shoot back. If not I know they are worthy, and will continue to fight on. A lot of times the HO can be avoided and you can create much better maneuvers from avoiding it, but most people don't know that much about air combat in AH to dance around it.