I have found that if you make your attacking aircraft Veteran or better and have them flying at @ 1000m, plus make sure they are armed with bombs, they will always attack the enemy. As long as they fly some where near the ship they can't resist!
![yep](images/smilies/yes.gif)
You can always lower the ships experience to novice, this will make their flak not as effective.
I have learnt this though many hours of experimenting as well as asking questions in this helpful forum!
Hope this helps