For the record, the turbulence encountered by AF447 was described as "MODERATE", which has a very specific meaning - namely :
MODERATE - Changes in altitude and/or attitude occur but the aircraft remains in positive control at all times. It usually causes variations in indicated airspeed. Occupants feel definite strains against seat belts or shoulder straps. Unsecured objects are dislodged. Food service and walking are difficult.
I'm sure that given the thousands of FBW Airbuses criss-crossing the globe on a daily basis for 23 years, most of them must have encountered "MODERATE" turbulence at one time or another. As yet there have been no reported incidents of such turbulence inducing an autopilot disconnect, but there have been several cases of disconnect relating to unreliable airspeed. Therefore it's quite reasonable to state that the most likely cause of disconnect was unreliable airspeed, and given the ACARS log and the DFDR records it becomes practically certain that unreliable airspeed was the reason.
As for ambulance-chasers, an example was the Aeroperu 757 crash, in which the initiating event was the inappropriate use by airport ground staff of silver duct tape to cover the static ports. The lawyers still elected to go after Boeing (who, true to the edicts of ambulance-chasing, had by far the deepest pockets), despite the manufacturer having done nothing materially wrong.
@gums - Yes, the build quality of the sim was very impressive in general. There's a reason why the top-drawer *home* sim component sidestick costs approximately $3,500 (thus the real deal I experienced likely costs more) and home computer controllers cost 1/100th of that.
