It has been my experience that the sims help with getting you use to stick association (what makes the plane do what) and controlling the aircraft throughout a sequence. I don't feel that they will actually help you in flying the IMAC patterns as the plane will not be the same and the conditions will not be the same. If you have adjusted the plane in your sim to fly like yours then it's a good idea to practice, if for no other reason, then to learn the sequences. Anything is better then nothing but keep in mind that once you put your plane in the air a lot of other factors are going to be present that aren't there on the sim. I just spent quite some time on 3.5 trying to fly the IMAC beginner sequence and there are a lot of things that would actually be easier if I were flying my plane. Three guys responding at once, must be a record! LOL