The simulator helped you more than you think.
It did teach me things like ...move the stick this way,the plane goes this way.Stuff like that, but really you should know what the controls do before attempting to fly. The thing that was way different was the amount of movement to get the plane to move, the stick movements were so small that I was barely even moving the controls to get a reaction from the plane, I will say this the SIM was fun, but not alot transfered to actually flying the plane and having to worry about REALLY crashing and the location of other planes.
One question goes over in my head while reading this , which is, who broke the engine in for the first flight .
I should have clarified, it was "our" maiden flight, the plane was actually a veteran... it knew exactly what to do, the reciever was set for a JR contoller and I use a futayba, so I had that mixed up. I actually bought the stinger off of here, it was in excellent shape and the motor is strong and loud...lol
What kind of engine do you have in your Stinger?
O.S. 60 FP ( I took the cowl off and double checked).
According to the guys at the club, its Fast . To me its WAY FAST....lol
I suggest you take $89.00 and order a trainer from tower hobbies so you can do more of your flying alone and you will learn more quickly.
Plan on taking a trip to Americus Thursday to Hodges Hobbies and picking me up a trainer, looking on here and ebay for a deal on a motor and radio equip for it now.