Yeah, I thought it was flying backwards too when I first looked at it in my hangar too. When I fought the pirate, his ship was the same model and faced the opposite way. I assumed since he literally gives you his ship that it would be the same.
I don't think it's that aesthetically pleasing flying backwards like it is now anyway.
A lot more work would need to be done to make it playable that way. I'd have to fix the gun placement, rooms, and doors in the XML. Then also reline up the gibs. All of that would take more time then I really want to spend on it. I was just playing around.