Tim,
I'm not saying that sims aren't a good thing, because they are a fantastic tool... When used correctly. In your case you say that you re-entered the hobby, which means that you have previous experience flying. You know/knew what you are supposed to do, and you used the sim to get the rust off of your flying skills. What I am referring to is the brand new pilot that has never touched a RC plane. They spend a ton of time on the sim to the point where they "fly" every plane in the sim, then run out to the field thinking that they are ready to fly. Yes it's true that some will be able to do this, and those that can do it are the "natural" pilots that can fly with no instruction at all, but for the large majority this isn't going to happen. Computers and sims are great, but they can't replace actual hands on experience. Hey, I can fly a 747 from coast to coast on Microsoft Flight Simulator..... does that mean I'm ready to go to work for an airline????? No.

Ken