There is no finite number of hours for a simulator. Frankly you could spend the rest of your life on it and not perfect every movement known to man. I consider simulator training more valuable than flight instruction at the field. As far as realism goes, you can set any simulator up to be extremely challenging. Dial in a 40 Knot wind and some 60 Knot gusts. That'll give you a thrill. Try flying upside down while doing the pattern with the rudder a foot off the runway.

Can you take off, fly the pattern maintaining altitude, do turns keeping alltitude, and land on the runway (not off in the field somewhere)? If you can't do it on the simulator, you won't be able to do it at the field. The whole purpose of the simulator is to learn to stay with the aircraft and not behind it. The skills you learn on it will directly transfer to the field. With 40 years of flight experience both as a Naval Aviator and a test pilot, I know having spent hundreds of hours in them.

If you beginners followed my advice, you'd be doing more flying, less training, and less bashing. For example, I arrived at the field today 8 o'clock sharp. The winds were so fierce I could hardly maintain my balance and one gust blew my cap over into the next county! Nevertheless, I left the field around 5 o'clock after using up 3/4 of a gallon of glow fuel. I do have one advantage flying on a Monday Everyone is at work, so I have the field to myself. The moral? Quit your job and fly!

Ciao,

Eagle Al