I'll try that out. This may not be such a bad solution since I could configure one of the buttons or hats on my throttle to put it into PAN mode, then perhaps another to put it back into default cockpit-interior mode. Might get pretty confusing in the midst of a furball though.
I wonder if it would be possible to petition HTC to add a snap-view twist capability to the game in one of the upgrades. It seems that a good number of people have the sidewinder and rudder pedal setup, which leaves the twist-action pretty much useless.