ORIGINAL: kuplo
No, they are not absolutely necessary, and can actually cause more damage. It's definately not uncommon for people to have more confidence that skill because of a flight simulator and how well they do in it. Then they go out and fly the real thing and crash and burn.
It's a good thing for learning the basics and orientation and ingraining muscle memory as well as trying out new maneuvers, but nobody should be under the false impression that if they can fly in a sim, they can fly in real life.
Why? It's not a "false impression". Are you living in the dark ages or have you ever seen a pilot who learned on a flight sim and came out to the field for the first time and soloed? It's not at all uncommon anymore. I've never seen a sim pilot overcocky and crash his plane trying to do something that he couldn't do either.
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