We could have more detailed and accurate cockpits with the existing engine, this was done without increasing texture size (picture below from
this thread)
But, to bring each existing plane even to that level would probably require as much work and research as adding an entire new plane to the game - probably not a popular idea! It would also make the game download a hell of a lot bigger and might be wasted work if there is a new engine on the way in the next year or so.
Even with the existing engin, those textures could be brought up to 256*256, and the 3D cockpit models could be made a lot more detailed and cluttered - with throttles, dials etc. (as has been done with some of the more recent additions) - they could be beautiful! But this would cause framerate problems for a fair chunk of the AH community, without adding anything in a pure Air Combat sense. Not to say I don't love eye candy just as much as everyone else
