This is getting close to the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. I don't think there's any reason a virtual airline needs to have payroll, maintenance, aircraft routing, etc. like you say. If anything, plenty of virtual airlines tried this 20 or so years ago and it was not successful for a variety of reasons we can discuss.
At the end of the day, a VA is what a VA is. I agree that there can be some overlap between flying clubs at VAs especially at the "fly whatever, whenever" places, but who am I to judge whether they are a "true" virtual airline?
Cheers!