This must be new since the last patch?
It's behaving just like it does online-- as soon as the wheels leave the ground, you are snapped into the cockpit view. I hope this is not an intentional change because its the only way I know as a skinner to get in-game feed back of changes I make to my skin. I can only do so much looking at it on the runway; its also how I create in-flight screen shots of the skin.