Hey RR
While I browsing through the D/L section I came across a couple of small mods that might or might not be of help with the Ship Maneuvering. Links are below. Like I said I don't know if they would help any with our project or not, just thought I'd bring them to your notice.
Webster's Ship Manuvering Fix for v1.4 and v1.5
Ships Acceleration Physics v0.2b