RE: real flight vs. ikarus vs. others
I've found that I learn a lot by flying the flatout style indoor electrics, among other models. I can push my skills to the max easily with those little 3D models, and I don't fly 3D. The 6.5 version of RealFlight is very good. It's still a sim, so that means some things are great to simulate, and some things are deficient. It's worth the money, imo.