There is a lot of discussion these days on ways to increase players in AH.
Things sometimes run in cycles -- and a new cycle is just starting with VR going mainstream.
One thing that seems very exciting to me is that if HTC can get AH3 bundled with VR headsets (or listed in their materials), that might be the magical solution.
AH3 could be the first and main combat flight sim as this wave of VR grows, with sales of VR headsets starting to get quite large, relatively speaking. AH3 could be one of the small number of games to fully use VR in these early days.
Also, the main VR headset contenders include (or soon will include) control devices that could be used to control the plane perhaps nearly as well as a joystick and certainly more intuitively than a mouse, so that lowers barrier to entry a great deal. Also, AH3's use of those controllers will enhance the probability of AH3 getting bundled or mentioned in their materials.
Let us hail the growing wave of VR, hope that AH3 can get bundled or listed, and see what it brings us!