Acceleration woes

#1 I use:

function redplayerCW()
{
	$redPlane.setAngularVelocity( -$redTurnRate );
	$redturn=true;
	redplayerTurnSched();
}

//red player turns anti-clockwise
function redplayerCCW()
{
	$redPlane.setAngularVelocity( $redTurnRate );
	$redturn=true;
	redplayerTurnSched();

}

//red player turn scheduler
function redplayerTurnSChed()
{   
	if($redturn)   
	{      
		$redPlane.setLinearVelocityPolar(($redPlane.getRotation()-90),$redSpeed);      
		//Every 1/10 second apply thrust      
		schedule(100, 0, "redplayerTurnSched");   
	}
}

//red player stops turning
function redplayerTurnStop()
{
	if ( $redPlane.getAngularVelocity() != 0 )
	{
		$redPlane.setAngularVelocity( 0 );
		$redturn=false;
	}
}

$redTurnRate is set to 90 in my case, so that's a 90 degree rotation in 1 sec.
I use getRotation()-90 as I want my player move left at the start of the game.

That does all the stuff I need and causes my planes to be able to fly in loops. If you wanted the player to drift in a direction and only change direction when they reapply thrust, then move:

//Every 1/10 second apply thrust      
		schedule(100, 0, "redplayerTurnSched");

from the redTurnSched function and put it into your 'apply thrust' function. That should give you the desired effect.

#2 Thanks for your example, Philip. My problem was a little different. The player's ship is set to accelerate at a fixed modifier until it reaches max speed. I was correct in thinking that vectorlength2d would work for what I needed, but I was a little off in the execution. Now it seems to work, but it seems like it takes a really long time to alter your course.. it may just need number tweaking, or I may have screwed something up yet again.. Not sure. I can post what I have if it would be useful to anyone, or if anyone wouldn't mind taking a look to see how to improve upon it. Just let me know.

#3 Glad you got the acceleration working Derek. Feel free to post your code if you want someone to help figure out the turning thing.

#4 Okay, this is my movement code. I'm sure it's not perfect, and it may even be bad in places. Basically, I am wondering if anyone would mind taking a look to see if it could be improved in any way. It just feels a little strange in the game. I am beginning to suspect that this is more a physics thing than a code thing, but that's why I was hoping for some pointers, because I'm not sure.

MaxSpeed is 20, AccelMod is 1.25, and RotationSpeed is 300. It feels kinda like sliding on ice, as it takes a really long time to alter your vector, especially in small changes in your rotation.

I don't really know enough about physics values to know which sorts of things I would need to tweak to get this feeling right, so any help at all would be greatly appreciated.