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Old 05-05-2019, 05:55 PM
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tedsander
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: White Bear lake, MN
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Phoenix is no longer being produced, but of course you may find used versions for sale.
I've been a Real Flight user for a very long time, so yes - I can recommend it highly.
ANY sim is better than none. I can instantly tell when one of my students has been practicing. It's all about developing eye/hand coordination. Sims, because of the limited field of views on a monitor aren't quite as good at teaching real world landings - there is a much bigger visual perspective to get used to. So an instructor is still needed. But the amount of time spent flying turns, figure 8's, etc. at the field will be dramatically reduced if you practice. And crashes will be less likely to happen.
I've had dedicated students who use a sim go from first flight to solo in 2 weeks, where someone who has only been able to practice at the field a couple of times a week may take many months. That is exceptional, of course, but it does shorten the time to solo dramatically for everyone, as long as they put the frequency of use and time in.