That's why i said it might work for IL2 but it might not for SoW.
A single command engine start works in IL2. You seem to think that this will be possible in SoW as well and it will most probably, but only on lower difficulty settings.
According to the interview of the development team posted on the forums of the check-six simulation community, in higher difficulty settings this doesn't work for SoW because there's a detailed start-up sequence. Just like the ones used in Black Shark and FSX, but with fewer things to do because WW2 aircraft are not so complex.
So to put it in simple terms, if i had a virtual pilot modelled in the cockpit at all times, i might be forced to fly certain aircraft at reduced difficulty settings because i wouldn't be able to see and click some of the switches needed for the higher difficulty settings.
WW2 aircraft are not as complex as modern ones, but you still need to flick anywhere between 5 and 20 switches to turn the engines on, depending on airframe. There's simply not enough buttons to map everything if all you have is a Sidewinder joystick and a keyboard.
I prefer using a hybrid control scheme, with flight controls, flaps, gear, guns and engine controls mapped to joystick and keyboard, leaving all the other stuff to be operated by the mouse. I think it's easier than having to map and remember that ctrl+shift+F turns the fuel selector valve counter-clockwise and ctrl+alt+F turns it clockwise.
As i said before, i have no problems with a pilot being modelled in the cockpit, as long as i can turn him off whenever i want to. You can keep him on at all times and map everything to your HOTAS set, i can keep him off most of the time and use the clickable cockpit interface, we both get what we want and that's pretty much it
