The Lancers have a bigger problem. They have a terrible field of view. It is very easy for an opponent to hide outside your field of view and you should expect them to in a conflict. I would never want to be flying a Lancer in any sort of contest that includes proximity. Launching missiles from 7km out is fine, but the last thing you want is a fighter closing on your Lancer. That will get your ass shot off.
By contrast, the Cutlass has a wonderful, fighter-like view.
I actually don't have a problem finding things when flying a Freelancer, though I don't normally look out of the cockpit when I'm searching for targets. I just tab through them till I find one that I like. I search for the closest first and then go through the list real fast to see where they are or how far away they are. If the range says 4.5 km or so, then I don't worry. If the range says 2.5 km or lower, then I remember where they are. If the range says 999m or less, then I make them a priority.
I also memorize where asteroids are with a glance and can normally maneuver around them for a little while without looking. I don't have to keep glancing over and over again since I trust my short term memory. I hardly ever have to worry about collisions :)
The ship that I absolutely can't fly is the Andromeda. I cannot see out of the front when light from behind me makes the struts in the view line turn gray. It makes it impossible to see and I've run into 1 km wide asteroids because I just can't see them. Since the Freelancer has no struts in the view line, I can fly it just fine.
I do love that Cutlass view though.... so nice and so perfect. It's not even centered on the screen, but I like it anyways.
