RE: simulator for pattern practice
Aerofly 5, then RF5.5 last Phoenix, I have the three of them, I ended up that way looking for the best RCsim for pattern.
Aerofly 5, has the Amethyst and now the Visa, as mentioned earlier, and they fly very close to their real counterparts. Best physics. Needs a powerful computer/graphics card no less than 1GB.
RF 5.5 Don not have a real pattern plane, I downloaded the Pinnacle, it flies very very well, just as the real one, and with the same limitations for the FAI program. Physics as good as Aerofly 5 and now has a pattern grid for practice.
Phoenix Best graphic scenarios, great practice planes, but for the integral to fly correctly it has to have the CG close to the stab LE, unreal, it does not fly like the real thing, not even close. It's the cheapest.
Hope this helps
Alejandro P.