It's true, shauncm, I usually do not go up into hammerhead turns. Sometimes I do, but that is supposed to be the exception. Like you say, going that slow on a dogfight server is quite risky.
I'm not necessarily fighting team vs. team, I duel, too. But I don't duel until one side is dead, I usually duel as long as I am comfortable doing so. I try to stay alive, and only thereafter to achieve a kill.
Regarding the air temperature at high altitude, yes, it is colder, but it also is thinner. This about evens out for water cooled planes. If you look at cooling data, you'll find the differences between high and low altitude are not that big.
Being sneaky is a valuable skill, it's never good to offer the enemy a fair fight, he might win that one.
