I was the primary flight tester for the Air Force’s development of the MH-60 Simulator. I spent months working directly with the software engineers. They would make a change and down the line, some other item was affected. Bottom line, it was a painstaking experience going over line by line of code to get it close to reality.
Pilot training is the larger issue here. We used to have to be a “little drop of oil or gas or electron” and draw out the schematics of the systems in detail and go through all the possible emergencies. Now, if it’s green it’s good.
“Pilot training is the larger issue here.”
I simplistically picture a test pilot moving the controls and seeing how the plane behaves, including behaviors that stress the airframe and try to confuse the computer stuff that helps the pilot.
I’m sure the simulators are invaluable for many reasons but they aren’t the plane itself, so it is also invaluable to bang on the plane itself.
Computer-controlled flying certainly moves the game way toward an exercise in software. I’m a software guy. Many times I’ve pronounced my piece of software perfect, but alas, it wasn’t.