Since it seems like you are a us main from what others are saying just try and keep out of turn fighting or only attempt it at least in higher altitudes while you are going on the upper end of your speed limit. Don’t be afraid to just run from a fight and get distance and altitude if you miss the dive on someone. With people above you try to stay out of their way or maybe side climb (gaining altitude whilst not flying towards the enemy) a bit at the start of the match so you get to the battle a bit later but higher than your opponent, and if you do have to engage an enemy higher than you try to put yourself in a position that makes it hard for them to really get a hit on you as they dive, you can also typically dive away from them into a pretty steep dive as your less likely to lock up and crash or rip your wings off from overspeed than they are allowing you to make a nice escape. But a lot of it is experience, and just getting that instinct and feel for the battles.
Not gonna lie I kept playing arcade until I reached jets and only then I switched to realistic… the learning curve was brutal but I survived and now I have fun.
But of course if you’re into props just play them in realistic, I did that because I’m not a huge fan of props