I've been clocking some serious hours into this (and was during the beta/gamma too).
Traded in rare goods for a bit, saved up enough for a Cobra MkIII + some upgrades, which is now looking sweet (I've since put bigger guns on)
Currently bounty hunting around Sol, but might go in for another trade run soon.
I've gone for a bit of hardware too, using a TrackIR 5, an X55 HOTAS setup, and using VoiceAttack for a few things too