A few other nuggets of whizdumb from an age (and player) long past:
Know when so say when. Loners often stick around for "one more burst" to score a kill and that's often what does them in. Be disciplined, don't get your ego wrapped up in it when flying solo, and have faith that the guy you just shot may be a dweeb and crash anyway.
The reverse gang-bang works too. You're cruising along at 20K and see 3 or 4 whatevers heading your direction, climbing out at 12K. The natural thing is to not engage at such bad odds. But ... those 3 or 4 enemas don't expect you attack either. Odds are they see you and think they're safe in a pack, and are back to talking about sheep. So if you do roll in, there's a decent chance that someone in that group isn't paying attention. Few things will tick someone off more than seeing their wingman blow up right in front of them like that (or not being warned of the 190 barreling in at Warp 5).
Watch the enemas and spot the grapes. There are some predictable behaviors that you'll learn to spot over time. Furballers will turn and burn at anything in range. BnZ'ers will do what you expect. But there is another level. For instance, a BnZ'er will often do some recon around a combat area to look for a likely (i.e. wounded) target. They'll go into a shallow climb (to build more alt but keep speed) and will appear to be just cruising along - which they are - looking for something to pounce on. When you see that flight profile, you've found a potential grape. That plane, once he commits to his attack run, will not be paying much attention to what's behind him, because he has so much speed going in. He doesn't know you're stalking him. You can get him two places - one is to wait for his dive and pull in behind as he gets into guns range, the other is to go into a shallow dive and head for where he's going to pull up and regain E.
Be everyone's wingman. As a lone wolf you have no responsibilities to protect anyone else, but that doesn't mean you can't adopt that role on a larger scale. For instance, your countrymen are in a furball below you, even odds, yadda yadda. You're cruising above looking for supper. You will likely be one of the first to see enema reinforcements inbound, since you're not engaged. If you try to engage 3 or 4 or 5 inbounds in a prolonged fight, odds are you die. But ... who says you actually need to engage to be of help? Make one high speed run, and they have to scatter. What does that accomplish? The enema have now burned some E and/or alt plus they're not in a tight pack anymore - plus their arrival at the fight is delayed. Now when these reinforcements engage, you also won't have to worry about they getting up to your E level - so you've also kind of set the table for yourself too.
Don't be greedy. Lets take the above example one step further. You take a couple runs at those inbound enemas and, in the meanwhile, the friendlies have prevailed and are now ready to take on new business. So, use the Gangbang Effect to your teams advantage. Make a high speed run on the enemas, and stay low and fast. They'll swing around and start to chase you most of the time ("Hey, he dove into a 4-on-1, what a dweeb."). Let them. Let them chase you below where your countrymen are waiting. You may not get as many kills this way, but a good loner scout can really make an impact.
Practice Escape Evasives. If you're a lone wolf, you're going to get into a lot of situations where you need to Run Away - either because of low ammo, low fuel, damage, or too many enemas. Most people know how to break off and get out of guns range, but the rest of that flight home is as often as not where you die. You have to be smooth so as not to burn E when trying to run. Roll the plane and let it naturally turn - let the guys chasing you pull elevator and burn E. If other enemas roll in, expect them to try to turn hard and latch on. A subtle move is often all you need to ruin their shot but keep on moving. And learn to use the terrain - flying along the face of a hill/mountain can often be an escape mechanism if the other guys hasn't practiced as much as you and digs in a wingtip. Picking a plane with a big WEP reserve helps here, as does not wasting WEP in combat - save it for the run home. Another good escape move is the low-alt inverted loop - you're on the deck, being chased by a baddie - head into a 30-45 degree power climb - he'll follow and close a little - when you're at the right altitude, snap-roll and pull back and loop back the way you came. You have to know just how far you can push it and not auger (practice, practice, practice) - the guy following will see you suddenly disappear below his nose and will usually try to follow - often planting himself in the process. If he doesn't follow - if he zoom's to catch you on the way out - you're in deep brown stuff - unless he augers trying to zoom you on the deck.
