It is very useful in my humble opinion. Now dont think that it is 100% accurate because it is not. The problem with sims is the landings and take offs are not realistic at all. The flying, however, is very close to the real thing and helps with attitude control. The first time you turn your plane toward you, in real life or sim, is gonna be an eye opener. So the sim can help with that. Also alot of people, mostly youngsters, seem to fly in the "box." IMAC pattern flyers know this term well but is different than their definition. In the "box" means you tend to fly right in front of you very short and close to the runway. This is caused from the practice one gets from the computer. Since its difficult to see the plane on a monitor sim users usually resort to flying close to where they can see it. This is NOT the way to fly in the skies! Think of flying like you would drive a boat. You need to have made up your mind what to do three or four seconds before you actually do it. But it is helpful