I roadraced motorcycles and crashed 47 times. You cannot find the absolute edge of the envelope unless you exceed it, then you back off just a smidgen.
You don't get 47 crashes in an airplane in Real Life. Ever.
I have 6,427,328,987,001 crashes in AH and not a scratch on me.
I do think in RL pilots pushed their plane's to the absolute limits when it was a choice of dying to their enemies guns or doing absolutely everything possible to live. Not over and over, but I would have tried absolutely everything to live, including crying like a little girl.