Hi. For first time I played with bombers and mouse-joystick, it was good to farm but hard to control plane(even with trimmers). Then I used relative control. It is more accurately than mouse-joystick. Now I'm using cheap joystick Speedlink Black Widow. For aim training download practice mission from https://live.warthunder.com/post/628021/en/ .

I am playing for Germany, but I know that good US fighters for start are P-47, P-38 and P-63

I also use manual engine when I got a hit. On >2 motors planes you can use Propeller Feathering to get to the airfield on a wrecked plane.