My advice to newbies (from a slightly better than newbie..)
- Pick your fights. If you two pilots fighting, they'll be weakened so target them. I tend to go for the one facing away from me as it's harder for him to turn & fight back (dishonourable, I know!) If someone in the distance drops chaff, I make a beeline for them because by the time I reach them they'll be out of chaff!
- If you start to take fire, drop chaff, turn FA-Off, and turn hard, with reversing. You'll swap ends really quickly and be facing your attacker before the chaff disappears.
- Always watch your scanner. If you see a yellow, blinking triangle it's someone shooting at you. Always prioritise them (unless you're just about to finish someone off), as they're the biggest threat.
- In a Condor, don't go toe-to-toe with Sidewinders or Eagles, they're tougher and often are equipped with better weapons. Always keep moving, strafing, boosting past them and turn back.
I thought I wasn't making any progress (other than the Rank, which is more down to how many games you've played) - until I was put into a couple of Team Deathmatches last night with some new players, and ended up with 11:2 and 12:5 kill-death ratios. I felt bad.

But at least I know I've improved from day one.