Taking bases has to be a coordinated effort and/or completely undefended in which its sad to say that bish have the advantage as they have the most "active squads".
My experience is that most of the population on Knights are lone wolves that up at various parts of the map to attack or defend.
My advice is that don't let the real estate part of the game bother you. You will always have an airfield to take off of or GV from no matter what the hoard does. Pick and choose your battles. If you see an oncoming hoard, up from a neighboring field, get some alt and cause some havoc. Most fighters in the hoard are heavy and keep in mind that this may mean they are easier targets. I have fun buzzing there fields with a 262 even if I end up loosing it.