Manoeuvrability is key.
When engaging bandits, you need to bleed speed and let them over-shoot.
The big flaps double as airbrakes, so you deploy them as soon as engaged.
Turning is your friend but your best turn speed is right around your stall speed.
It is a very tricky dance but one you must master.
I often will cut throttle to about 80% going into a turn and then blast my afterburner mid way through.
It can do a 180 turn in less than 10 seconds if done right.
Remember, the stat-card lies.
The 30mm ADENs don't gain accuracy this way but rather become very predictable.
You will find yourself landing shots far more consistently.
For actual fighting, let them over-shoot and then turn.
This is the key point.
Match their turn and blast the afterburner.
This will put you into a position where they fly right in front of your cannons.
If they are about 600m to 800m, you can even get a cheeky fireflash kill.
The key thing is never go about about 700 km/h once you are in the dogfight.
You need to basically just keep flying in circles or ovals.
This grants a secondary benefit in that it is hard for IR missiles to get a good lock on.
If you are forced into a head-on, use a fireflash when between 700m and 1km.
Aim above them to compensate for the lower placement under your wings.
Any longer out from 1km and they are likely to turn away but between 1km and about 1.4km, they still might get hurt from proxy fuse.
If you need to break away from the fight, hit the deck and burn hard.
If they are faster than you, try to wiggle but don't turn or evade.
You take a while to get up to speed but bleed it very quick.
Once you pop about 700 km/h, you basically can't turn for ♥♥♥♥. If they are 1km or less, you are ♥♥♥♥ out of luck and just have to hope they are bad shots.
But you still die in up tiers.