General note: if you are trying to protect something from waves of
incoming fighters, check your map very frequently, like after every TIE
you shoot down. The only exception - perhaps - is when chewing through a
wave of bombers.

X-Wing Mission 3
You need to get two torpedoes into each transport quickly. Beyond that,
you may be tempted to try and exploit the fact that your guns have a
slightly longer range than a mine. That takes too long - and if you
accelerate into the mass and keep weaving, it is relatively easy to
destroy all the mines.

A-Wing Mission 2
Don't fly right up behind an enemy. You will inevitably ram its
destroyed bulk, which can be fatal. If you get that right - and don't
let an entering A-Wing repeatedly shoot missiles into you - this mission
is perfectly straightforward.

Tour 1 Mission 4
This is the first mission to really emphasise the important of going as
fast as possible whenever you're not where you need to be. If you come
over to the frigate at speed 125 - draining lasers - and blow the
bombers into scrap then immediately return to the medical frigate, you
are perfectly positioned to intercept the second wave of bombers well
before it can launch warheads. Don't mess around with the fighters; just
open the range by going fast. With any luck your wingmen will blow them
up when they're lined up behind you.

Tour 1 Mission 5
Use your six protons to blow up the escort corvette, ignoring the
briefing about attacking the freighters. The mission is now completely
trivial as the Y-Wings blow the freighters into scrap without the
corvette making a nuisance of itself.

Tour 1, Mission 7
The trick here is to realise each Y-Wing is assigned 1 X-Wing to
disable, and the other two Y-Wings (for once) are perfectly competent.
If you immediately go full throttle (lasers and shields off until you
close) and disable X-Wing Blue Two, Blue Three ends up closest to the
Star Destroyer, about a kilometer in front of Blue Two. You are now so
far back that the first wave of TIE Interceptors will not reach your
shuttles until all captures are complete and the units are on their way
back to the Maximus (they will then destroy the shuttles, so don't
actually let that happen...)

Conversely if you dawdle about charging shields, or get distracted by
other targets, Blue Two ends up a long way closer to the Star Destroyer.
The result is that you have to fight many TIE Interceptors and even one
getting past you will result in disaster.

Tour 1, Mission 8
When the briefing says to destroy all the other transports, it doesn't
mean it.

Tour 1, Mission 10
You are going to die a lot on this one as you collide repeatedly with
shuttles. If you shun the blatant prior-knowledge attack of remembering
which shuttle is the target, note that four out of the five shuttles break
and attack as you approach. Even then, it is arguably best to clean out
some of the escorts who otherwise attack Rescue 1. X-Wing Gold are
apparently as much use as a rubber crutch.

Tour 1, Mission 12
When the transports and shuttles turn up, the shuttles are gunning for you
and the transports for the very vulnerable freighter. Immediately nerf two
torpedoes into each transport and run away from the shuttles. Job done
with no risk of collisions with shuttles.

Tour 2, Mission 1
Resist the urge to blast the transport with concussions. You will want
them later. The early Bomber groups have orders to attack the freighter
and want killing ASAP; Bomber groups targetting you turn up only if the
Star Destroyer is attacked (I think - based on two attempts), something
you should definitely avoid.

On the other hand, the online walkthrough on difficult missions says to
blow up the transport with concussions, and to be fair, I did that and it
worked. Be sure to fire them from an angle where they do not strike the
freighter.

Tour 2, Mission 2
If you "bypass" the Gunboats, they will all sit behind you and blow your
doors off. Kill them first, and make sure your wingmen are not continuing
on a banzai charge.

Tour 2, Mission 3
When an Assault Gunboat is targetting you, you can't ignore it - it has
missiles. Instead, for once, you can set lasers and shields at max and
still dogfight effectively (and this reduces the risk of running up a
gunboat's stern tubes), playing to the Y-Wing's strength of robustness.
Turn into one as soon as you see the missile lock lighting up to get past
it before a lockon is obtained.

I did this by killing one corvette and having my wingmen kill the other,
then killing as many transports as I could before gunboats became a problem.
Then I alternated blowing up gunboats and nibbling away at the freighters
whenever I was not under attack. Friendlies destroyed the remaining
transports and shuttles.

I have a theory that four torpedoes into each corvette (then disable with
ions), ordering your wingmen to ignore them, will preserve your wingmen's
torps for the freighters. On the other hand, your wingmen might just buy
it before the freighter showed.

Tour 2, Mission 4
Be very careful not to attack the Star Destroyer by accident. It will
launch Interceptors and missile-loaded Bombers in vast quantities to kill
you.