I think its a really good engine, if an equivalent of the SCP happened to it, it could turn out to be something incredible, sometime ago I made a thread about a FS mod for I-war 2, its around General Freespace, it would have been cool if it ever happened, the game would allow much more freedom, you could explore different system, etc.
The only thing I've ever saw done for I-war 2 was that Torn Stars mod but thats it.
The flight model is good too, more realistic, flying a Perseus like that really would be something.
Could you post the link to the IWar2 community? Even if it is almost dead, I would like to see some of the things they have done. I still fiddle with it from time to time.
http://www.i-war2.com/It's as good as dead unfortunately.