To just add another flavour to this discussion, which I suspect will gel with most of you, why not persuade your organisation to adopt an Integrated Test, Evaluation and Acceptance strategy?
I am doing just this on my current project (and yes, I am an ex-FTE, but currently a project manager.....). The result is that we have the designers, end users, TP's and FTE's all working together throughout the test and acceptance phase, from the initial static tests on structure through to the final flight tests. Problem fixes will result from the concerted efforts of all, including, most importantly, the end users of the platform.