Great questions Alan!
Written on a plane
Tools
For pilot tools the standard loadout of kerosene claw hydro works well. Moonshine can be good on galleon due to low acceleration and good max speed, but both engineers need a spanner mallet kit and it can't be used in combat. If you're facing a lot of balloon popping you can replace hydro with drogue chute which will slow your descent and lasts for 2 seconds. Bring a pipe wrench and lesmok or heavy clip ammo (explained later).
Balloon
It's your job as pilot to help repair and rebuild the balloon. Unless important maneuvers are needed or your main engineer is on the way, repair the balloon with your wrench whenever it's damaged. If there are only a few fires on balloon then you can keep it up while the main engi shoots until they have extra time or it becomes unmanageable. When the balloon is broken rebuild unless you need critical maneuvers (especially turning). If using drogue chute you can drogue, hit balloon twice, go back to helm and drogue (lasts 2 seconds). Repeat until balloon is rebuilt.
A good tactic against balloon popping is to hydro before it's popped and hydro immediately after it's up if you think it will be popped again. If you're planning on long range against other long range ships that are taking lumberjacks then bringing both hydro and drogue is an option (you won't need claw). You can hydro before you're popped, drogue and repair until it's up, then hydro again if necessary. Stamina is very important here which is explained later.
Burn!
Burn your engines frequently and without mercy if you have kerosene. Burn immediately when you first spawn in to start off. If you need to move or turn and your engines are less than dead then burn. Kerosene and claw can be repaired with spanner which heals 20 damage per second because both tools deal less (10 dps kero, 13 claw). Spanner until you need to mallet. Kerosene unlike moonshine can be used for a while during combat before requiring repairs.
Moonshine
Moonshine requires that both your engis have spanner mallet. They spanner until the engine has about 5 bars worth of damage then mallet. Don't burn moonshine if the main engine is below 1/2 or if the turnings will break. Once the main engine is fully healed wait a few seconds before burning again. Moonshine is the fastest way to move but it's difficult using in combat.
Pilot stamina
Stamina use is very important. When you first spawn burn atleast 2/3 of your stamina to get a start. After that avoid using stamina for speed unless you don't plan on needing important maneuvers for a while. The best uses for stamina are turning and vertical. If you need to quickly turn then you'll need stamina so don't waste it but don't under-use it either. It's great for going up and down, but be careful with the galleon's slow vertical acceleration because it's hard to stop once you get going. If you're being constantly popped save up stamina and wait for the right moment to use it in combo with hydro. Stamina does NOT replace tools so use it as a supplement and not on its own with kero claw or hydro.
Engi stamina
As a rule of thumb use stamina to run to your gun, broken component, and when you spawn in. There are some situations to run and extinguish fires or to reposition on the ship. Engi stamina refills by 1/3 when you rebuild a component.
Gunner stamina
Gunner stamina regenerates the slowest and refills by 8.3% when you destroy a component. It gives extra arcs and increases reload speed. It lasts a max of 6.5 seconds which can reduce a reload by 1.6 seconds max. This is a short lived bonus because it drains quickly and regenerates slowly so I recommend using 2/3 during the first reload then saving it if you suspect you'll need extra arcs which is the most useful feature. When using it for arcs only use it while shooting and be careful not to waste any. Tell the captain when you're using stamina for arcs so they don't mistakingly think you can shoot without stamina.
Main engi
The main engineer brings spanner mallet chem spray. Chem is required on the hull before combat and balloon before it gets too much fire. After every reload hit or chem the hull. Stamina is used to run to the gun and broken components. If the balloon is on fire and there are no other critical repairs briefly use stamina to jump onto the staircase, chem balloon, and brief stamina to jump down. Always jump onto and down the stairs and ledge.
Rear engi (standard setup)
The rear engi is in charge of the rear two guns and turning engines. They can bring spanner mallet or wrench buff, and either chem or extinguisher. Chem requires constant use during reloads and slows down repairs so I often recommend extinguisher. A buff hammer is great because you can have buffed guns and components, but limits repair power. Stamina run down when you spawn and load guns then repair engines until combat when you stamina run back to your guns. During reload you have enough time to repair engines and extinguish fires. If you have a buff then first buff all engines (balloon optional) then prebuff guns. All 3 engines can be repaired from below by standing on the ledge.
Gunner (standard setup)
The front gunner or engi shoots the front guns and has various repair jobs. If necessary the gunner can man all 4 guns while the rear engi repairs. Gunners can be used if you need multiple ammo types, but otherwise a spanner mallet buff engi is superior because you can buff important components, deal extra damage, and repair much better. With 3 engis and two buff hammers I recommend a different "buff" setup which I'll explain later.
Gunning rules
This section is vital and sets the difference between novices and experienced players. EVERY time you reload immediately get off your gun. Repair, chem, and/or buff it. Even if you're a gunner and the gun is at full health get off it. There is never a reason to be on a reloading gun. Get back on 1 second before it finishes. Never shoot an unspotted ship. If you're in the gunner position your main job is spotting ships. Zooming in isn't necessary just point and spam click.
Positioning
Your gunners need a stable platform at long range to shoot accurately. Watch the flag to your left near the balloon and adjust drift accordingly. Report any horizontal and vertical movement so they can adjust aim, but try to keep still for long range. I recommend setting throttle to the mouse buttons so you can quickly change. Cover is very important when engaging ranged opponents. Find a place to set up where you can move into a protected position when necessary. Sitting in the open and being focused down spells an easy kill.
Rear gun
The rear gun should always be a flare gun for which you have lesmok (range) or heavy clip (accuracy). Flares are essential to light up clouds and reveal potential locations. Flares light up everything behind them so aim at the tops of clouds or sometimes at the bottom. It's often the pilot's job to shoot flares. There's no reason to use any other rear gun because with the exception of the mine launcher no gun can protect you better than the broadsides. A single gun can accomplish nothing (besides mine launcher) and often slows down your turning.
Galleon loadouts
Meta
The meta galleon is hades lumber flak - hwatcha carro. This requires good gunners and the effective range is limited by the difficulty of shooting flak. The left side works best from 400-800m depending on gunners and opponents, and right side for close range. Main engi brings lesmok and the rear engi brings charged for flak and carro. Gunner brings two ammos for lumberjack and one for hwatcha (usually burst). The lumber needs lesmok and a range reduction ammo: heatsink, greased, or lochnagar. Burst can be used for mid range on lumber and a closer range ammo for when the target nears the arm range of 220m. If the target will drop below the lumberjack minimum range you need to immediately turn to the right side. This loadout is best for mid-long range with a close range option.
Brawl galleon
The brawl galleon is made for mid-close range and often includes hwatchas. This is the easiest galleon to crew and shoot. Carronades used to be common on the left side but are less so since the nerf due to lower range, arcs, and dps. Hwatchas have become more popular due to the jitter decrease which increased the effective range of burst ammo. The Minotaur is an interesting combo that I'll explain later, and heavy flak can also be used.
Quad hwatcha
Quad hwatcha is the classic example but I don't recommend it due to the weak right side. Gat double hwatcha is quite powerful but double hwatcha on its own cannot accomplish anything. For this reason I recommend a carronade hwatcha right side. If you have a gunner they bring heavy clip burst heatsink. Heavy clip can be preloaded into the left side if you expect to start out at over 700m, and load heavy into the right side carronade on the gunner position. The rear engi can bring burst and main engi brings gat ammo. Gat ammo can be lesmok for long range, heavy clip for mid-long (425-300m depending on target), or greased for close. I tend to prefer lesmok but make sure the main engi switches ammo appropriately.
Minotaur
The Minotaur is an interesting gun that works best in a mid range brawl role in combo with hwatcha. To answer your question it's useful on the left side but not the right. The brawl galleon loadout I use is 3 engi buff setup with gat taur hwatcha - carro hwatcha. Minotaur needs heavy clip for longer range and can use regular at closer. The push spins ships the further away from the center of mass you aim at. It deals good shatter damage and I often tell the gunner to aim for guns or engines (292 damage per shot to guns/engines). It can help break armor due to piercing damage which does 118 dmg per shot. The Minotaur benefits from excellent arcs (45 all around) and is a good defensive weapon, but has a slow reload of 9 seconds. Muse should decrease reload to 8 secseconds like lumberjack.
Long range
The longest range loadout is double lumber and hades/merc. With a good gunner lumbers can be effective past 1500m against big targets like galleons and spires. The decision of merc or hades depends on map and opponents. Merc is longer range and easier to shoot but lacks arcs. If the target is falling it can be difficult to keep up with the limited down arc. On a big open map with low flight ceiling the merc is supreme (Dunes). I'm much more comfortable with hades due to its great arcs, and higher dps is a bonus.
Double lumber lacks killing power and generally relies on the target hitting the ground. It's weak against charging ships but can be very powerful against long range opponents. The long range loadout I use is a buff setup with hades double lumber - double carro. The double carro right side is relatively weak except at close range. It's for defense and keeps the target suppressed below you. If you're using a gunner with double lumber I recommend bringing burst and having one hwatcha on the right side. I use two buff engis because I expect to mostly engage at long range and buffed lumbers are amazing. Buffed lumberjack breaks balloons in 2 shots and deals 102 armor, 78 hull damage per shot.
Heavy Flaks
I've tried many double flak loadouts at long and close range and it's not effective enough. Flaks are only good against hull and one flak is plenty to kill. You're better off breaking armor or disabling them with a lumber, hwatcha, or even Minotaur. Hwatcha flak is a good brawl loadout with hades or lesmok gat on top. I don't recommend flak on the right side because it's a mid-long gun that needs to be paired with an armor breaking gun or two. On another note the heavy flak on meta galleon can be replaced with heavy clip hwatcha which provides ranged disable and explosive damage.
Buff setup
The buff setup is a change in crew positions when you have a 3 engi 2 buff setup. The standard crew setup with 2 buffs on ships is the main engi with spanner mallet, secondary engi with wrench buff, and a gunner replacement with spanner mallet buff. This buff setup on galleon simply switches the position of the second engi with the gunner so the wrench buff is at front and spanner mallet buff at the rear on engines. This provides better bottom repairs at the cost of weakness to engine fires. Because the extinguisher is in the front position you need to be aware of fires on the bottom deck. The advantage of this setup is by not sacrificing repair power due to a buff engi in the secondary position.
Without going into a lengthy description of situations the basic model is simple. The front engi stays top and buffs until combat at which point they stamina run-jump to the front and go down the ladder. When timed right this gives you a fully buffed ship with everyone on guns in time. Depending on circumstance one (or both) of the engis comes upstairs depending on need (spanner mallet buff for max repair and wrench buff for support). When you won't be shooting for a while an engi (usually front) comes up to buff top deck. A fully buffed galleon is a deadly adversary. Buffed balloon and engines give surprising maneuverability, buffed hull gives you a tanky +30%, and two buffed heavy guns are terrifying.
Thanks for reading
