The only sim I tried so far is G2. I know it is NOT the same as real life flying but it is extremly valuable as far as stick time is conceraned. What I mean by that is orientation - nose in, inverted nose / tail in etc. The point I am trying to make is any sim is better than no sim. Maybe with XTR the physics are closer to reality but still, IMO you wont be able to do the same things with your heli that u can do w/ your sim. No simulator will provide you the 'fear' and andrealine rush as your real heli will when you see it upside down for the first time. I spent hours on the sim doing 3D stuff and once I finally set my bird up for 3D, it felt like i could only do about 10% of the total that i learned. BUT ... the adventage of actually doing it, learning how it handlles in certain situations is pricless. I know it saved me about 3 times from a total disaster - you just learn how to recover cause you've done it on your screen about 50 times before .... anyways.. my 2 cents