An 'auto-everything' camera isn't normally much good for air-to-air shots. But if you can set the thing to 'shutter speed priority' and use (35mm equivalent) a shutter speed numerically faster than the focal length (i.e if you're using a 200mm lens, don't shoot slower than 1/200 sec), you should be OK. You might need to open it up about 1 stop above the auto solution as well; using a zone or spot metering SLR, trap a dark bit of the image, then zoom out to compose and shoot.
Or the digital equivalent. I have both 'traditional' and digital cameras, but I would never dream of using the digital for 'serious' air-to-air photography; it just isn't user-friendly enough. I far prefer the good old Canon T70 with 200 ISO film and a 35-200 zoom lens!