don't worry too much about it. one of our top aces, skydavis, actually prefers the starting planes to anything but the very se5a and albatross dv (best allied and axis planes) because they can turn in so little space. they aren't as good head on, but they're really deadly in a turning fight.
its the general opinion of the aces that an ace is an ace in any plane, and a noob is a noob in any plane. skill matters more than what you fly. if you can fly well in the fokker dr1 and sopwith camel, imagine how well you'll be able to fly in a better plane! don't give up, you'll improve.
oh, and couple bits of advice; once you can hold the plane steady easily in a head on fight, go recalibrate your plane to a higher level of sensitivity. crank it up a little each game until you're at 100% sensitvity. you won't be any good in a turning fight until you're at 100%.
recalibrate before you play, and whenever you change position darastically, too.
glad you like the game, have fun!