Wrong Way to Fly a Spaceship, Part II

So we've established that

1. Piloting a ship is so complex it requires cerebral implants,
2. Only adults can get implants, because their bodies are done growing, and
3. Our protagonist is not an adult.

It should go without saying that our hero will need a ship. And just for fun, we're not going to give him a pilot. That means that his choices are to either get implants despite his age (which might happen later on), or rig the ship for manual control.

I'm not sure yet how the rigging happens, but I doubt he does it himself. I'm imagining some mechanic/engineer friend hardwires systems for him, creating a bizarre cockpit that is insanely complex. Arms and legs have to be inserted into slots that grip them, with a host of controls in each slot that are manipulated by fingers as well as hand, arm, leg, and feet movements. The rest of him sits in a harness, with another mechanical extension that covers his head to give him sensory input.

In this way the ship becomes more of an extension of his own body.