I've tried one in flight, kitted out primarily with mostly all class A components including shields, a single class A shied booster, A thrusters, etc. as well as two class 2 multicannons and a class 3 turreted beam laser.
The main concern combat-wise is the thrusters: for a ship of that mass (its base stock mass is greater than that of the Asp), its thruster class is going to struggle to keep up with pure fighters and to get the weapons in the right position. The chance of being outflanked by smaller, nippier fighters is very high. It also has a slow straight line speed and low boost compared to the Viper, Vulture, DBScout and Cobra, and maybe even the Asp. For loadout, I would focus on keeping good shields: given her low manoeuvrability, you will take hits in combat, enemies can and will outrun you, and escaping a pack of enemies will be trickier. It does roll very well, though, but pitching is inferior compared to the DBScout due to its significantly greater mass. Flying it in combat will take some getting used to.
If you can get decent weapons on it, though, it can blow away smaller or similarly-sized ships very well. I've only flown on one sortie so far, outfitted as above. I'm sure I can find a more optimal weapons loadout against more swift fighters, but it'll take practice. That said, I had no problems with its power plant or distributor.
Given its manoeuvrability limitations, one might even have to consider explorer-like tactics when using this ship for combat: covering blind spots, compensating for heaviness and slowness with defence, and prioritising survival over victory.
