I did a decent amount of bounty hunting in my time, first in a Vulture then in a Chieftain, finally doing my last little bit in a Challenger. There was a major flaw in my piloting: no matter what I did, a big ship like an Anaconda or a Python would always be able to turn itself around to put guns on me. Smaller ships like Eagles and Cobras would be able to joust with me under most circumstances (though it was easier to stay on the Cobras), but they're so small, who cares, right?
But there was one constant: Vultures were dead easy to tailgate. In the hands of a player it's among the most agile ships in the game, but in the hands of an NPC I was able to hug just a few hundred meters away from their engines like I was trying to climb into the back seat with them.
So why are the big lumbering ships smart enough to rotate, but Vultures get stuck trying to fly away from me? I've wondered this for so long…