I agree with this. Seems there are many "picker" pilots and squads these days.
If you're able to run down one of these "picker" rocket planes usually you'll find that most are very lacking in ACM abilities. I've found that high ponies are usually no threat unless you get tangled up in a fight and even then they weren't that good a actually hitting you on their 500mph passes that were usually followed by extending a sector.
I was wary of the low ponies however as those guys tended to know how to fight.
well said, and sadly this will be a somewhat long reply.
Most of the high alt monkeys and cannon birds tend to run when u get co-alt. Take for example the D-9, it is a hunting machine not a knife fighter despite the great roll rate. any smart (at that moment lol) d-9 pilot will extend for turning room and re-engage or simply find another target. They are best deployed as a picking platform, That's why you see them often trailing a horde or coming in high against a lower enemy. IMHO the best fighter in the game is the F4u-4 if it can't outrun you it can out turn you. If it can't catch you, it can climb faster and wait for you to come back, a great machine for hunting 20k doras and ponys. A contender for high alt fighting is the Jug
Down low the spit 16 is great for taking on a dora because it too has a great roll rate and any spit an easily out-turn (sustained) a dora, pony, tempest etc. That is why those aircraft tend to run off when faced with a co-alt spit, unless they know (through their discord channel via their mate flying on the enemy side calling out the target's names). See this in action when you see "the fast birds" cleaning up conscripts like crazy if its not vulching that is. The spit is not a noob plane as these "cannon guys" will try to discredit it. It is an excellent plane but can be beaten. A German ace killed over a 100 of them with a BF-109 in the Battle of Britain and the later Normandy Invasion.
I have seen a few youtube videos where one player (I won't even call him a pilot) is talking with a buddy who is on discord (or similar) with him and who is flying on the opposite side, calling out the names of the pilots taking off or chasing him. Knowing who you are fighting is a HUGE advantage and in this case is cheating. This same player has also had others "join his aircraft" to watch his six and give him flight guidance while passed out from a pilot wound, All in the name of "High kill count" The funny part, this guy has the gall or lack of wisdom to post these videos usually entitled "I killed so and so x times" as a pathetic display of ego. His being killed is always "screen to black" and yes I have killed this dude 1 v 1 after his 200 rant of "duel me."
However, I won't do this as I have seen his duels and somehow his ride is always 50mph+ faster than his opponent flying straight and level to the merge. Anyway back to the fight. I came across his LA-7 in my spit, I was co-alt so he turned and ran, instead of chasing him i turned away knowing as I turned and he would turn back to run me down in the faster ride, so I turned back to face him, now he is committed due to range and so we dueled and I cut him in half after three merges with a right rudder deflection shot. I was lucky his picker buddies weren't close enough to save him. Before he comments in here to try and discredit this, there was no one else within 5k and it was him and me only. Honestly though it could have gone the other way as well. Anyway I am tending to rant here, point is many of these cannon jockeys and alt-monkeys either ho or run when you are co-alt with them and when forced to actually fight are like anyone else, they can be outflown lol.
Tip1 - Kill the high fast LA-7s, Tempests, Ponies, F4Us and D-9s first, work together -they do. If not they will pick you or if on your team "clear your 12"
Tip2 - Film everything (it doesn't hurt frame rate "ctrl-r" or set to auto) and set aside time after flight to watch learn their tactics. If something suspect happens, you have the film. If there was nothing of interest, just don't save it when you land or get shot.
Tip 3 For god's sake quite upping from a field they have control over - you are just helping their kill count hurting yours. Go to a nearby field get a fast bird, meet them co-alt and they will leave, works every time.