Couple last quick comments then I'll let this one peter on out.
I posted the clip with issue of e retention by Nikki...not for a tactics film.
My take is simple, I'm neg E the whole time with the Nikki. He had control of the whole fight if he'd taken it. Now on initial merge his 3.5 horizontal "sepration" gave me time to leave....so did his climbing reverses after all three "re-merges".
I didn't see a single non vertical move I made in that clip...as for could I have flown the pony "properly" far as I'm concerned I did

...yes I could of extended and buzz bombed him...but I had enough E to play with and it was a fun fight.
Now my question is simple...is the nikki's E retension excessive....that's it. As for the rest of it, since I fly "dumb" I'll continue to get hosed on a regular basis

.
As a last comment the Nikki never had a shot till I tried to really force a mistake at end. Although he certainly had a closeup view on the zoom...so he may of had a nibble and missed there....my call on that fight is simple, the nikki blew 4-5 chances to hose me by never going to the vertical on any merge correctly, wasted all his planes advantages extending horizontally...never once took the fight up.
So in closing, I appreciate ALL the comments and time taken. The Hog related ones are right on...specially hooligans and Mandobles.
The nikki/pony stuff more mixed...lot of comments on my flying ... not many on the question posed. On the E question, it seems to be a mixed bag with strong feelings both ways.
As for the flying part, I think I handled a neg E fight with Nikki reasonably well, considering that I'm the chasing him around

Personally I think he flew that hop as bad as you can fly a Nikki, only the planes capabilitys saved him...no indication of any basic ACM or 1 vs 1 tactics...he could of waxed me 6 different ways there. I fought the only fight (vs run) that I had to work with.
Just my 2 cents here....again my opinion has no more merit than anyone elses and the clip is there for all.
Thanks again for taking the time, specially hooligan for posting em for me <S>
[This message has been edited by humble (edited 05-14-2001).]