Though I agree with your sentiment in general, I have to disagree about a few particulars. For me, knowing tactics means I would know what to do if I get bounced or ambushed. I won't say it will keep me alive but I will say it increased my chance of surviving. That's why I have to disagree when you declare that "surprise completely negates ANY tactic other than escape." Though I do concede that running away is one of the many options that I could take, it is not the only option. That's why people train. One can't train for everything but it will increase one's odds. One doesn't use a particular tactic, rather, he adapts the tactic to a particular situation.

As for US fighters vs. the Zero, the P40 was robust enough to survive getting hit by Zeroes and Oscars in China. This was attested to by Pappy Boyington in his book. However, the P40 who survive this aerial melee is usually too beat up to continue taking on the Zero, which also flew away because the Japanese pilot is surprised that the American plane is still in the air despite the damage it took.

Come to think of it, this is one factor that I should've mentioned in the fighter scramble pearl harbor what if.

Also, in the area of New Guinuea and the Solomons, the Japanese rarely had surprise because of their excellent warning system via the Coast Watchers. Again, when push becomes shove, the US fighters in Guadalcanal were robust enough to still fly on despite the damage they received from Japanese Zeros. Japanese Zeros or (other Japanese plane models at this early stage of the war) were relatively easy to shoot down because they lacked self sealing tanks and hardly had any armor at all.