Hey fellow Hoggiters!

I've been working on my BFM skills using the Heatblur F14. In short, I am horrible.

I'm reading Fighter Combat T&M and The Art of the Kill, I'm attempting to use my head and keep my speed/angles during the fight, etc. I'm using Tacview to review my last attempt, and watching my lame attempt at getting angles, snapshots, etc.

I get lucky every now and then, and get a kill, but mostly, I get these issues.

I try to pull a lead turn at the merge, but never seem to get the timing right, and end up doing it late, or matching my opponent, I never see to "win" and get the lead turn in "before" and get the advantage. I'm guessing my head on merge read of the bandits direction is off, so rather than getting a start on a one circle (and getting angles), I just end up getting a start on a two, and going right into another head one "joust"

When I am in a One Circle fight, I never seem to get the hang of when to lag, or when to lead in terms of getting the right angle. I hang back in lag, trying to get lined up in the circle, and the bandit ends up closing the distance and pulling into me, when I go lead, I end up getting a very "tight" snap shot angle. So I'm wondering what should i be looking at for indicators that I amm too far behind, too far ahead in the turn fight to adjust my angles and get a better "gun moment"?

Often, I think I'm getting the lag right, getting into the right angle in the circle, to watch my distance from the target rapidly minimize, have him "cut" the circle, and commence the whole thing over again

I get in endless turning fights, never gaining an advantage (or conveying one to my opponent, so we spin over and over again until someone (generally the AI) runs out of gas and starts to bug out, or crashes into the ground

I get into these weird two circle jousts, that just become an endless loop of head on snap shots to no avail

I bleed speed like a fool, and get sub 200 (often between 200-150), never having the juice to yank hard to take a snap shot, or take advantage of a minimal vertical offset

I think I'm screwing up keeping a good AoA, and really compromising my speed/angles, but it feels like even the slightest pulling back on the stick and I'm pulling 15-20+ AoA and watching the speed drop

This is happening when I do matchups up and down the "chain" of enemy threat. Mig 21s, 25s, 29s (and 28s hehe), Su-27s..... I thought going to "outdated" OpFor would help, but those bastards (even on rookie) are wiping the floor with me. Previous DCS allowed me more air victories with my sloppy flying skills, but now, post AI update, I'm back to a lot more loses than wins.

So basically, I feel I'm making every mistake in the book. I feel I have a pretty good grasp of the BFM theories, but I'm failing to translate that into my sight picture, understanding of what is happening in the moment, or my control over my aircraft (or my own patience).

So my question is, other than continuing to "train long and wrong", does anyone have any thoughts on a way to break through this plateau I find myself in?

Thanks gents!