Maneuvering

Swipe left/right:   Roll maneuver.  Best when under attack.  Useful to accelerate and change direction at the same time as roll to avoid a missile or cannon fire.  May drain your energy if you do it too often (as with most maneuvers except for decelerating).

Swipe down:  Perform a 180 (reverse direction) maneuvers.  Good when your adversary is directly behind you – quick maneuver to face him.  I use this maneuver if I am in a weapons or defense class plane fighting against an opponent with light missiles.  If you do a bull run away from the opponent, get some distance from him and flip back at him at the right point in time, the missiles that he fires at you will miss and then you will have a clean shot at him.  Have taken out many opponents this way.  Recommend not doing this against Bisnovat missiles though as they will likely keep tracking you and take you out.

Swipe up:  Sends plane vertical – changes to higher elevation going the same direction.    I do not use this maneuver very often – perhaps somebody else knows its value.  If you swipe up 2 times in a row, you can do a 180 degree turn also I believe.

Hard turns:   You can turn the sharpest when decelerating (down arrow which activates your flaps).  Use this maneuver when fighting in close quarters (circling around your opponent).

Accelerate/Decelerate:  Acceleration while under attack will aid in missile/cannon avoidance.   Mixing up acceleration and deceleration will come with practice to outmaneuver your opponent.  Combining turns with acceleration/deceleration is the key to being a good pilot in this game.

Close Engagements: Getting in position for a good shot:  When flying in a close proximity engagement, you and your opponent will tend to circle each other.  If you both keep a constant position, the player with the more agile plane will typically catch up with the slower plane.   Perfecting your skills in this type of an engagement is what really separates the men from the boys or ladies :-).  You can start to visualize where the other plane is based on the red pointer, even if you can't see him on your screen.  This is where doing rolls and quick direction changes pays off.  It takes time and practice to be able to maneuver well in close engagements and is really the key to a becoming a highly skilled player.

Lead your Missiles in close range shots:  Another important strategy in close engagements is to lead your opponent (aim in front of them) when firing a missile.  If you are tracking a fast moving adversary at close distant, firing your missile directly at him will result in a miss.  You want to shoot the missile in front of him which will give the missile a better intercept course.

Timing your Missile Shots:
Shooting 2 missiles in quick sequence can be a good strategy when you HIT your opponent but if your opponent makes an evasive maneuver, he can usually avoid both at once.   I have, at times, spaced apart the firing of the pair by a 1 to 3 seconds - this makes it harder for your opponent to avoid both as the second missile may still track him after his evasive maneuver.  This is something you can experiment with and will vary on the type of missile that you are carrying.

Bull Runs:  If you have a weapons class or defense class plane, a good strategy (especially against an agility class plane with lower class missiles) is to do what I call a bull run.  Try to avoid the close engagement and instead do a high speed run away from your opponent.  Once you get far enough away, reverse direction and fire your missiles.  This will usually give you a clear shot at him.  Keep in mind that he will likely be firing at you while you do your run.  Trick is to reverse direction (downward swipe) at the right time to avoid his missiles and then nail him with your own.  The better performing missiles work especially well in this maneuver.  Warning - if your opponent has coin missiles like Bisnovats, there is a good chance that the missiles will nail you when you do your reverse move.  If you are flying an AGILITY class plane and your opponent does a bull run AGAINST you, you are faster than him and can usually foil his run by sticking as close to him as possible at full throttle as he runs to continue the close engagement.