You can even see them in VR, unlike a piece of paper.
You have a point there about VR.
I can only speak from my experience and that experience is that looking up key commands in game when you are new at it is a bit of a catch 22 and also either covers your view with menu or takes you out of the cockpit assuming you know where to even look. It is not uncommon in AH to print out base maps, players have edited and distributed base maps; you don't need to print out base maps to see them as they are available in game. Is the fact that you don't need to print out base maps to see them an argument against making them easy to print out?
What I have noticed in playing AH IL2 a little bit of WT is that with AH it is something like 4 clicks of the mouse to get from the desktop into the air while the other 2 games there was a lot of meandering and waiting. By the same token if I am trying out this new AH game trying to fly with a mouse and I want to put my flaps down or my gear up or start the autopilot it is a lot easier if I can look at a piece of paper than it is to just somehow know that I can press the ESC key and then guess my way to the right screen and back hoping I haven't crashed.
I tried the help button and it did not work as described. When I opened the B for browser the link for key commands did not work.