"i think it takes a lot more skill to be able to fly well with the mouse than with the joystick"
You are right about it. it takes a lot more skills to controll the plane by using a mose... but there is one thing. i NEVER saw an ace (by "ace" i mean a expert pilot, who is flying and getting great results, great numbers of kills and good K/D ratio) who is contrillin' the plane by mouse. i can't tell why exactly you should use joystick, not mouse. it's up to you. if you feel that's better for you - use mouse. who knows? maybe you become an top scoring ace here and i bet you'll be fist who did it "on mouse"
I can't imagine myself doing effective evasies or attack that way... maybe drive a GV, boat or fly a buff... it's possible, but not fighter. Use joystick and after let's say 2 weeks you'll understand the difference i bet
want to "it's my first time on joystick"
lesson. drop me an e-mail. i'll be glad to help ya!
good luck