I'd have to agree with some of the other posters putting Hikaru at the very top of the list, above Max.
Watching Robotech as a kid about 300 times, then rewatching Macross as a college student, you see that Hikaru always has to watch over the people he has had in his command. Even the first time he was paired with Max and Kakizaki, he had to save Kakizaki while Max had just went off rogue and killed whatever he wanted. Hikaru always picked the difficult decision and had to always complete objectives. Even when he was a novice pilot, he managed to end a duel with Kamjin in a draw. Kamjin, who had been battling for years and years nearly lost to this novice.
Later in the series, Max has never really had any worries about ever leading a squad or having to watch fledglings. Hikaru always has someone to worry about and always has some emo problem, thus his emotions always diminish his flying abilities.
Max gets to fly with the best zentradi pilot, and thus he always has a good partner by his side. Hikaru? He keeps having to bail out those horrible pilots (like those ones who couldnt even take out regular battlepods when earth was rebuilt).
But in the very final episode when we see that he had lost everything, he lets go of all his emotions and we truly find his real skill. I don't even think Max in his prime would have beaten Hikaru at this moment.
Not only is Hikaru probably the best tactician and leader, he is the best damn fighter pilot, ever.
(going by "- If a character's pilot skills develop over time, let's use the "peak" of his battle skills as our reference (but that "peak" has to be actually animated)")
