Personally, If I wanted to stress test a new HOTAS I'd ask a bunch of guys and gals to practice formation flying for a few hours. Flying formation is both physically and mentally demanding and you'd know right off the bat how ergonomic your new hardware is, how good or bad the stick action is, and since your head will be outside the cockpit pretty much 100% of the time, how well the buttons and hats hold up over time.
Sounds like a perfect group to beta test a new stick and throttle combo.
