Actually streamline, the nautical simile is a very poor one to use. I learnt how to take oil tankers through the English Channel by taking oil tankers through the English Channel. The time I spent messing about on the river in small boats consisted of a few afternoons frittered away somewhere on a small lake near Cardiff trying to sail a life boat with four other confused souls wondering "how to get the damn thing going". Nil desperandum,the big ship never sank and the opportunity to demonstrate my prowess (or rather lack thereof) at small boat handling never presented its self.
The important element to piloting is learning stick and rudder skills along with basic airmanship. Irrelevant as to how these skills are learnt, be it courtesy of Cessna or Boeing. To be avoided at all costs is the production of pilots who can programme but not aviate. As evidenced by the recent Gulf air fiasco, virtual reality can turn into actual reality in a big hurry with tragic results, but with aviation as in so many things it's the dollar that rules with the result that safety will ultimately play second fiddle to economic expediencies in an effort to $ave thi$ $tuff.