I liked the controls from your own plane, but I didn't feel like I had a lot of freedom since I was always escaping from the helicopters that chase you like bees, so I just ended up escaping and turning around to blast a few and then continue escaping, that ended up being my entire playthrough during all stages.
I didn't understand the loot window at first, so a few times I went to the next stage without any upgrades, although I have no idea what they do besides the firing rate one