Sims are good tools. There's a lot they won't teach you though. They won't teach you all the things you need to know in the pits, properly setting up equipment, how to preflight or anything about field etiquett. They will help you with the actual flying, but becareful, because as it helps practice, it can also help establish bad habits. For example, one bad habit I have to watch for is flying too low. With the sim, I fly low so I don't loose orientation to the field. At the field, I tend to want to fly low and often don't give myself enough goof room making a mistake, radio hit, or deadstick more critical.

On the other hand, they are a great way of trying new manuvers without risking your plane. They can help keep your skills more tuned during the off season too. If you do go with the sim, I strongly recommend trying your hand at editing the planes. I find some are not well setup and others are too forgiving. I often add weight, makes slight adjustments to the CG and drop the power of engines and increase rotational torque.

Scott