Good way to get into manageable ship combat? (To level up pilot skill)

If'd put points into piloting earlier I might have been to level 2 in ship combat, but i've just started looking into class B and higher ship parts so I need the licenses.

I get totally wrecked most of the time in ship combat (using the Razorleaf with what upgrades I could manage with class A). I guess I could use my ::: spoiler spoiler Starborn Guardian II - I beat the final ship encounter by hugging an asteroid and taking out the three ships as I can, if they don't glitch themselves to death first. ::: my guns can take an average ship down in one pass, but shields are usually gone by then, especially if there's multiple enemies. Heh and if I do get a decent random encounter of course half the ships ::: spoiler spoiler Do the "Oh crap it's the Mantis" thing and run away. though i can tag one. :::

Are there systems that are good for grinding out some ship kills? On the ground I've taken to putting difficulty to hard.

**Oh another question - is the lockon mechanic worth it? Doesn't seemt to make much difference when i try