Just to follow up, it IS a blast, and you should throw together some basic SPADs to do it. They can take a hit and keep going (except from the prop), and even if you do cut it up, they are easy to fix and cheap and quick to build. That's the key to combat, durable, cheap, quick to build.

Starting slow is good as well. A lot of guys at their first contest fly straight in to the ground in the excitement.

If you do get in to a mid-air, keep flying until the last part stops moving. You'd be amazed at how much damage you can do and stay in the air or at least control the crash to put the plane in a safe location and minimize damage. Also be ready to pull the power off on contact. There's a world of difference between hitting the ground with the engine at idle (or off) and the engine at full power.

Personally I like the string leader just because it gets you targeting a spot well behind the plane. You can just tape the streamer to the tail, but then you have to be careful not to get too close. 30 foot streamers look long on the ground, but look itty bitty up in the sky at first. Anything you can do to move the target away from the important bits is a good thing.

When trying for a cut, don't even think about a head-on approach.

RC MANIAC119's suggestion of one guy starting on offense and the other on defense is a really good idea. It avoids the problem where you both try to turn at each other's streamer at the same time. That move often leads to a head-on impact.

(When I fly in a contest, I try NOT to chase someone who is chasing me. If I notice someone is making an effort to cut me, I'll target someone else. And my offensive moves on my target often work as pretty good defense against someone chasing me, at least it often slows them down. There's plenty of time at the end of the round for one-on-one duels. I seem to loose more aircraft in that kind of situation than I do when there's a defined chase and target (And it's best when the other guy doesn't know he's the designated target, but I digress )).

Instead, work on coming up from behind. The most common cut is when the other guy starts a turn, and you fly straight on through the curving streamer. This is usually doable, but if you mis-judge, it's easy to get in front and mid-air.

So, to help your depth perception, when you start doing this, keep the planes close in. Don't fly way up high, or way out in front or to the sides. Keeping the planes close makes dept perception easier so you can be sure you are where you think you are.

Btw, another useful thing to do even with out streamers is just fly loose formation a bit. Practice flying your plane while watching the movements of someone else's plane. You want to be able to fly around while seeing the other plane turning and know where he is at all times. Once you can fly your plane and watch another, then put on the streamers.