After looking at the various screeshots on this site from the beta versions of the game, i noticed what appeared to be a swing wing feature on ships like the Valkerye (and i think defender too) which has now been removed from the game. I don't know much about modding so i'm not sure if this is possible, but for those of you up for a challenge, my logic is this:

The only moving parts left on the existing game ships aside form guns are the cargo hold doors which open and close to jettison cargo. These doors could possibly be made to represent the wings (i.e. Wings fold down when cargo is jettisoned). Since this also disables the shield, by using this feature you could effectively give the ship a 'combat mode' if only the time that the cargo bay is open could be extended indefinately. Does this sound plausible?

Give a man fire and he'll be warm for the night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.- Terry Prachett