Rogue9Volt,
The keys to fighting with the hellcat are almost identical to the F4U. Gain the high ground early in a fight while you still have good speed. Always try to merge at 300mph+ if possible, this will give you two verticle moves to play with before draining all your energy (eg. you can do two full immelmans starting at 300mph directly in a row with practice). So 300 is a good rule of thumb, and by 300 I mean the white gauge not the red(true) gauge. Make your opponent fight up to you if at all possible, you're power to weight ratio isn't very high so fighting uphill is not a hellcat's strength. Hellcat has great flaps just like the F4U, so work that to your advantage but keep in mind the flaps are both a blessing and a curse as they also bleed energy like crazy so use them in bursts, and only as much as needed. Try to follow your opponents in lag to maintain your energy and then use a quick flap dump for the shot when the time is right. Most importantly practice with it, push it to it's edges and beyond. I'm normally in the TA Tuesday and Wednesday nights working with my current students, but would be happy to have you ride along or answer questions for you while I'm there.
<S>
BigRat