I am self taught myself and I can tell you the sim really helps. Cant tell you about phoenix but RF G5 has this wonderful swap page where you can DL different planes free and its very likely you can find your plane on it to practice with. I started out with a duraplane (flies like a brick), found it on the swaps, and it flew just like the real deal. practiced a few hours on just takeoffs and landings, and the next real flight went without a hitch. I wont tell you you wont crash cause you probably will some, but it does help. Well worth the money. Good luck and have fun.