A few options and thoughts for you.
I know you like the touch controllers for the "realism" but they are just not accurate enough to be very competitive, the tech just isnt there yet. Sure it fine in an arcade type/style game but for any type of precision forget it. As a substitute you could try this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SbQJiyj1U8Its a "commercial" for a company that makes extensions for the warthog joystick. Place the stick on a stand between your feet and you'll have the same "throw" the really joystick has in the plane as well as all those buttons to use in the game. I dont know what HOTAS you have but a search may fine similar extension available for other sticks as well.
Rudders, if your using the touch controllers how are you using rudders? The controllers have limited number of buttons to use. If you are NOT using rudders in AH you are hobbling yourself even more. In the time it takes you to roll right, pull lead and fire, I can do the same with a tap on the rudder pedal to get my nose shifted over. Rudders are very important in this game.
Films, you said you were recording them but couldnt find them afterward. AH films are not playable with any other software but the game software.
In the red is the default location of the game. If you did not load it in the default location, say through "Steam" the easiest thing would be to use the search bar to find the "ahfilm.exe" file, right click on it and click on "open file location". Once that screen opens right click on the ahfilm.exe and click on "create a shortcut" and move that shortcut to the desktop. As you can see in the picture, that file location also has the "films" folder where all the films created are stored. Once you start the film viewer you should be able to open any film stored in that folder. Remember that when you start getting over 50 films in that folder you'll start getting a small lag from the time you hit the "record" button in the game until it starts filming, you may even get a screen freeze. I move the films I make out each week some are saved, others watched and deleted. I film every fight and still learn from them today even after 20 years of this.
Posting films. When you were learning to drive a hundred years ago, they didnt just give you a car and tell you to go out and practice/figure it out. Working with a trainer is the best way to get pointers, just like going to driving school/drivers ED. The second best thing is films. The AH film viewer has a number of ways to view the films, for outside (like the F3 mode in bombers), form the other players view, trailing views, views with a trail added to your plane and the other see who went where and how. You can see rudder use rolls, and all types of turns by all planes in the film. For a new player using and figuring out what your looking at can be a bit daunting. Post them here, or in the training threads (upload them to a cloud storage space and post the link ) and let these "sharks" go over them and point out the plus and minuses. You may be flying what you think is a good way (as you did in those other games) and may not realise that in this game there is a better way to do it. If you cant have a training flying in your plane with you having these guys pick apart your fights is the next best thing.
Be open to criticism and help. You seem to really like this game and players like you a hard to come by. These guys are mostly willing to spend the time to help you get by the frustration we have all and still do to some extent have in this game. If it was easy nobody would play it. This goes for ALL new players. If your willing to listen and take the criticism you'll find yourself picking up the game much quicker and ease some of that frustration.
